The Courtship of Shinji Ikari
by Alex Knight
Summary: What it says on the box.  A small change in Asuka's personality presages large changes in the story.
1. Enter Asuka

"Sure, it technically started months earlier, but I always felt that the Angel War really took off when we met on that aircraft carrier." – Dr. Ikari, Recollections of the Angel War

The purple-armored giant roared in triumph, ignoring the hole in its head as it worked the broken rib deeper into its opponent's body, seeking the Angel's core. Desperately, the Angel grappled with its slayer, attempting to bring the Evangelion with it into death….

The red-haired girl stopped the recording, chewing on her pen before jotting down more notes on the pad of paper in front of her. / Able to keep a high synch even after the head injury - Need to ask him how he damps down the pain. Wonder why he dropped the knife for the bone? Doesn't seem to have close combat training, could offer that in exchange for tips on synching. /

She started the recordings again, grateful that her guardian had managed to get these copies. They had made the interminable voyage to Japan bearable, and she desperately needed to review them. Kaji-san had told her that the Third Child had not only managed to get a synchronization score of 43% on his first try, but kill no less than *three* Angels. All without the help of the years of training she had received, and she *had* to know how he had done it.

"Have to be the best, and it looks like Third can help with that. Suppose that's something to look forward to, aside from killing Angels. Obviously they've got better support staff there if he can synch so high despite never seeing an Eva before. I should be able to improve my score much faster than back home." Her musings were interrupted by a knock on her cabin door.

"Hey there kiddo," came the voice of Ryoji Kaji. "The chopper is going to be on the deck any minute now, you going to grace us with your presence?"

"Hai Kaji-san, I'm coming!" Asuka Langley Soryu, Second Child and designated Pilot of Evangelion Unit 02 took a second to straighten her outfit before opening the door. '_An Eva pilot must always look her best, after all.'_ Straightening her suit jacket and smoothing out her skirt, the teenager opened the door to greet the always-smirking face of her guardian.

"I still say you look like you're going to a job interview," he said as the two of them headed to the flight deck. "After all, you're still only fourteen."

"I'll be fifteen soon enough, Kaji!" Her cheeks flushed with anger. "I've already got a degree, and I'm a trained combat pilot. I should be treated like an adult!" _'Especially by you, Kaji-san. What do I need to do for you to stop treating me like a child?'_

"You really shouldn't be in such a hurry to grow up, young lady. You're missing out on the joys of childhood."

Asuka rolled her eyes at the only man good enough for her. "Oh sure, you mean all the gossiping at the lunch tables about which girl is the biggest slut in school, or that so-an-so is going steady because a boy gave her a jacket? Those kinds of joys?"

Ryoji never dropped his trademark grin as he replied. "Oh, I'm sure there's more to a teenager's life than just that, Asuka." Glancing at the helicopter just now touching down, he continued. "And speaking of teenagers, here comes the Third Child. Are you ready to meet him?"

Asuka stopped and turned to her guardian. "Of course I am. He's a Japanese native, hasn't gone to a university and has only been involved in the Evangelion program for the last few months. I've studied the combat footage so we can discuss tactics, and since he probably doesn't speak German, I've been practicing my Japanese all during the trip. I'm ready!" In the distance, she could hear a young boy screaming about a hat.

Ryoji chuckled, "and what's his name, my fiery young ward?" She blinked, nonplussed as she realized that for all of her preparations, she'd overlooked that simple detail.

"Schiest!" She fidgeted for a second before entreating the older man. "Could you please tell me his name, Kaji-san?"

"Well, you've been a well-behaved young lady on the trip, so I suppose so. His name is Shinji Ikari. Now if you're ready, there's someone else on that helicopter I'd like to get reacquainted with."

The unshaven man merrily walked towards the helicopter and the people disembarking from it while Asuka stood there, attempting to process this new information.

'_Shinji Ikari. The Commander's name is Gendo Ikari, too much of a coincidence to_

_assume they're not related. So he's the boss's son. Well that explains how he got picked, except it doesn't make sense. They would have to have known that he had potential when he was younger, just like me. Why didn't they give him the training then? Why was that Angel the first time he'd ever synched with an Eva?'_

So absorbed was she in her thoughts, she failed to notice the baseball cap go fluttering by her feet. Nor did she hear the thudding footsteps of the young boy chasing it until he crashed into her in a tangled mess of arms and legs, falling to the deck. The first thing she noticed when her head cleared was that the tracksuit-wearing boy's hands were touching places she had reserved for Kaji-san.

With a roar of "PERVERT", her knee came swiftly up to connect with the boy's groin, and he fell to the side, groaning. Getting to her feet, she saw two other boys in school uniforms. One of them was wearing glasses and a gleeful expression on his face as he pointed a video camera at her. The other…hunh. He actually had his head turned away and Asuka could see signs of a blush on his cheek.

Gritting her teeth she lunged at the camera geek, slapping him hard across the face and grabbing for the camera. She'd just gotten it away from the boy when Ryoji and an all too familiar face arrived at the scene.

"Just what is going on here, Asuka?" Misato's voice was just as she'd remembered it, of course. Asuka sourly noted that the years hadn't seemed to have dulled the older woman's natural beauty either.

"T-Touji ran into her while chasing his hat and his hands, err, uh…" the blushing boy's voice trailed off.

'_What, the little baka can't even talk about it? It's not like *he* was the huge pervert.' _ Filling the silence Asuka growled out. "That pervert groped me! I just did what any well-mannered young woman would do."

"And what about the camera?" Misato sighed in exasperation as Asuka glared angrily at the young man wearing glasses.

"THAT little pervert was filming the entire thing! I'm just erasing the footage and then the dweeb can have his toy back." Fitting deeds to words the upset girl fiddled with the device for a second before tossing it back to its owner, eliciting a cry of panic as he almost fumbled the catch.

Seeking to redirect the conversation, Misato gently pushed the blushing boy forwards a few steps. "Anyway, Asuka I'd like to introduce you to the Third Child, Shinji Ikari. You two are going to be working together."

Asuka looking him over before extending her hand in greeting. "Well, at least you're not a pervert. Here's to a successful career of helping me destroy the Angels and saving humanity."

The boy _'Shinji'_ took her hand almost timidly and shook it, the barest hint of a smile on his face. "Thank you. I'm sure it will be an honor to fight by your side."

'_Huh, seems awfully meek for the son of the Commander and the kid who's taken down three Angels. I figured I'd have to beat him in the simulators to teach him who's boss. You're a puzzle, Shinji Ikari, and unfortunately for you, I don't leave puzzles alone.'_

Asuka stalked into the mess hall, seething. It had been all she could do to bide her tongue while that old fool mocked her Evangelion as a 'child's plaything'. Oh, Misato had scored some points back with her airhead-toned reminder that NERV had complete authority in the event of an Angel, but even still. The young German's mood had not been helped by the cramped elevator ride either. She was convinced that one of the two perverts accompanying Ikari took advantage of the enclosed space to try to feel her up, and as soon as she could figure out which one of them did it there would be hell to pay.

Not that lunch was turning out to be much better. Her dear Kaji-san was most definitely flirting with Misato, and only the fact that the other woman was clearly unreceptive was keeping Asuka's tongue still. Well, that and the fact that while the two perverts seemed to be enjoying this, the Third Child was looking mortified.

"So Shinji, I hear you're living with Katsuragi-san, is that right?" Asuka silently noted both Ryouji's change of target and his question. This was another part of the puzzle that was the Third Child. Why would he be living with Misato if his father was the commander?

"Err…yes. Miss Misato was kind enough to let me stay with her." Still with the humble tones, when most boys his age, or even college-age boys would be gloating over it.

"So tell me," continued Kaji with his trademark smirk, "does she still toss and turn in bed?"

Asuka's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she heard that question. What the Hell kind of thing was that to ask in public? Especially given the difference in Misato's and Shinji's ages! She couldn't believe her beloved Kaji-san would embarrass her like this! A quick glance showed that while the perverts (of course) were lapping up the idea, and Misato was horrified, Shinji was acting like nothing was wrong.

The boy's confused response of "Well, I don't hear anything from her room at night" was overridden by Misato's shrill demand to know why Kaji would dare ask that question.

Shinji's statement mentally floored Asuka. _'He actually took that question at face value. Doesn't he know what Kaji-san was implying?'_

Asuka saw her chance while the two so-called adults were squabbling. "Come with me, Third. We need to talk." Grabbing the boy's hand and ignoring his stammered protests, she took him on a motor launch over to the transport ship carrying her Eva.

"So," she began, once the two of them were in the launch and safely away from embarrassing guardians and perverted schoolboys. "Your first time inside an Eva was right before the third Angel, eh?"

"W-well, actually it was right as the Angel arrived. Rei was too injured to Pilot, so father had a *use* for me." His reply was bitter, unlike what she'd seen of him so far.

'_Ok, that's a partial answer. He obviously doesn't get along with his dad.'_ "Well," she sniffed, "you did the best you could without proper training, I suppose – nothing like my years of training of course. Why in the world did you use the rib bone instead of your progressive knife?"

"You-you've been training for years too? Why were both of you given all the training and

I just got thrown into this?"

A bit of anger there, the boy actually could feel something besides embarrassment then. "Hey, for a total rookie you didn't screw up too badly. Anyone who can take down three Angels like that is someone I can trust to back me up in combat." That's it; build him up while also reminding him that you're the top Pilot. That's the way to do it.

The two of them reached the transport ship and clambered up the ladder to the deck, delaying Shinji's response. "Thank you, Soryu-san. It's good to know that Rei will have someone with training instead of just me to fight beside."

Asuka stopped on the deck in front of the stairway leading to her Eva as she processed his remark. _'Mein Gott, I don't believe this! He's the one who's killed three Angels, while Rei – the First – the only thing she's done is provide him with a shield against the positron beam of the Fifth Angel. Where the Hell is this boy's pride?'_

"Really Third, show some spine. I've seen the footage and the First hasn't done anything to impress me." Asuka tossed her hair and began to descend the stairs as she continued. "I mean sure, you tripped and fell, then let the Angel smack you around the first time, and the second time you failed to get anything done with the cannons, but at least with that last Angel you did everything right."

As she was about to begin expounding on the idiocy of the support staff for deploying him into the firing range of the Angel's beam attack and the First's sole purpose as an ablative shield, a large explosion derailed her train of thought.

Rushing to the railing, the young German was treated to the sight of a warship breaking in two as a large creature slammed into and through it without slowing. Beside her, Shinji's worried voice confirmed what she already knew it had to be. "A-angel. There's an Angel attacking the fleet!"

_'Schiest, this is bad. Unit 02 isn't set up for underwater combat, and I've got nothing in the way of support here. None of my training was remotely like this, I'll have to improvise everything!'_ A glance at the boy standing next to her caused a smirk to appear on her face.

'_Of course, I have the master of improvisation here with me, what could go wrong?'_

The aforementioned 'master of improvisation' continued to speak: "We'd better call Misato and find out what we need to do!"

'_What kind of statement is that? Doesn't he have any initiative whatsoever? No, wait. Stupid girl he doesn't know if your Eva is ready for combat. Don't blame the untrained civilian for not acting like a proper soldier.'_

"I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to beat that Angel. C'mon, we need to get suited up." Grabbing Shinji's wrist, Asuka dragged the confused boy to the storage bin near her Eva, pulling out a pair of red plugsuits. "Here, stand over there and put this on while I get changed. And no peeking got it?" The blushing boy stood at the other side of the bin and looked forlornly at the suit.

"But this is a girl's suit. A-are you sure?"

Asuka glared at him. "Yes, I'm sure! With two people in the Eva we're going to need to maximize neural connectivity, and that means plugsuits for both of us! Now stop whining and get changed!"

With a defeated nod, Shinji turned around and began to get changed. As Asuka changed into her suit, she kept an eye on the boy to make sure he didn't succumb to the inherent nature of his sex and sneak a peek at her nubile young form. As a totally unplanned side effect, she was able to observe Shinji disrobe.

Totally unplanned.

Honest.

Really.

'_Looks like he actually does exercise some, and are those exit wounds on his back? Oh, from the energy whips, right. Still, how does he keep his synch so high through the pain? And is that...oh wow.'_ Blushing, Asuka activated her suit, creating the needed seal as the fabric tightened around her. "Right, c'mon Third, we have an Angel to kill!" _'And he never turned his head even a little. I wouldn't have expected even Kaji-san to be so chivalrous. You continue to surprise me, Shinji Ikari.'_

Climbing into the Entry plug, Asuka motioned for Shinji to hold onto the seat behind her. "Ok, you handle communications and if you see anything I need to know about, speak up." Seating herself in the control chair, the Second Child began the start-up procedure while the sounds of another exploding ship penetrated the hull. "Set base language to Japanese." _'No time to ask if he's fluent in German.'_ "Flood plug with LCL. Ionize LCL. Initialize nerve connections. Trigger bi-directional links. Synchro start."

The dull metal panels of the plug flared to life, showing the two children the canvas tarp covering the massive war machine. Mentally bracing herself for the added strain of a second mind in the link, Asuka was pleasantly surprised to instead feel an even stronger connection to her Eva. _'Must be because he's also a Pilot. Well, that should make things easier.'_

"Err Asuka, we only have one minute of power here." Shinji's worried voice focused her.

"Right, then we'll have to get to the flagship and connect to the power supply there. Contact them on the radio and" her instructions were rudely interrupted by that overbearing admiral and Misato arguing over the channel as once again the adults proved to be more immature than the children they were supposed to be supervising.

"Err Misato, can you get the power hookup ready? We've got under a minute on the battery and Asuka says we'll be right there." Hearing Shinji's mostly-level voice, Misato wrestled the mike away from the admiral.

"Shinji, you're in there too?" Asuka rolled her eyes at the clueless questioning as she brought Unit 02 to its feet, the tarp draped over the Evangelion like a cloak. "Don't worry Shinji, you two just concentrate on getting over here. The power will be waiting."

Shinji closed the connection as he looked at the screens. "Uh-oh. That Angel's coming closer and we only have Type-B equipment. There's no way we can fight in the water."

_'Been doing your homework, eh? Good to know, Third'_ "Well then we'll just have to stay dry. Ever play hopscotch?" Bending the crimson titan to her will, Asuka leapt from ship to ship, ignoring the destruction of the transport behind her as she raced to the carrier and the precious power cable.

Landing on the carrier's flight deck and grabbing on as the ship listed from the impact, Asuka ignored the warplanes falling into the ocean, dismissing them as obsolete pieces of junk. Her mind was more focused on making sure the all-important power cable and generator didn't get lost. As the warship stabilized itself, she stood and grabbed the connecter. "Switching to external power, see anything?"

Shinji pointed to the left. "There, port-side, nine o'clock. It's coming for us!"

Confirming his spotting skill, Asuka faced the oncoming Angel. "Deploying prog knife. It's no rib bone, but I think it should do the trick eh?" A gentle smirk graced her face as Shinji blinked in surprise.

"Err, yeah. We need to find the core, I don't see it on the upper body, do you?"

"Nope, but that's ok. We'll just slice it open when it tries to ram." Asuka regretted those confident words a few seconds later when the Sixth Angel leapt onto the carrier, slamming the prog knife out of Unit 02's hands and pinning the Eva against the bridge tower. "Mein Gott, this thing is huge!"

The two colossal entities struggled on the deck of carrier, the few souls still on the bridge watched in awe as humanity's greatest weapon battled one of its greatest foes. Then, calamity struck as Unit 02's left foot skidded backwards onto one of the aircraft elevators. Unable to bear the weight the elevator collapsed, throwing Asuka off balance and both the Evangelion and the Angel plunged into the water.

_'Not good! Not good! This is very not good!_' Asuka tried to keep herself calm as the Angel dragged her Eva deeper underwater and eventually through one of the many flooded cities that were a result of Second Impact. And of course, Misato proved ever-so-helpful, reminding the two of them that Type-B equipment wasn't designed to work underwater. "It's not like we planned it this way" snarled the redhead upon hearing that piece of so-called advice.

At last the power cable spooled out to maximum length, jerking the Evangelion free of the Angel as the great monster continued to swim through the water. The two teens exchanged a quick glance before Asuka devoted her efforts to forcing the Eva to respond while Shinji went back to scanning for their foe.

"Uh-oh, here it comes!" He cried, pointing directly ahead.

Asuka silently gasped as their enemy opened a huge gaping maw. "That's a lot of teeth!"

Behind her, she could hear Shinji's voice, now seemingly so out of place with its' calm tone. "There. There's the core, inside the mouth."

"Fat lot of good that does us now, Third!" Her exclamation was cut short with a gasp of pain from both children as the great jaws slammed shut around Unit 02's waist. Turning her head to glare at her co-pilot, Asuka continued. "Any more brilliant tactical analysis or can you be bothered to help me get us out of here?"

Frowning in thought, the Third Child looked around. "Asuka, let me control the right arm."

"What the hell do you mean?" _'What good is one arm going to do, especially when the knife is God knows where?'_

"Just trust me and concentrate on our AT field. Don't think about the arm" came the measured reply, so unlike the shy stuttering boy she had known up till now.

"Fine then, just don't screw us up any worse than we already are." Warily, Asuka focused all her concentration on maintaining the AT field, forcing herself not to react when she felt the Eva's arm moving without her direction. She felt it draw up, and then sharply swing backward, slamming an elbow into the teeth clamping down on Unit 02.

'_Ah! He's going to get us free by shattering a few teeth, and he needs me to maintain our field strength so we don't get damaged. That's very smart, Mr. Ikari. Yes, you'll do well as my wingman.'_

After several more hammer blows, a tooth shattered into fragments. Grabbing one of the larger ones with Unit 02's right hand, Shinji looked at Asuka. "Well, it's no prog knife, but I think it should do the trick eh? Would you like to do the honors? I'll take over the AT Field if you do."

Stunned, the young girl could only nod as she concentrated on the Evangelion's arms while Shinji took over projecting the field that sheltered them both.

_'Mein Gott, I was more correct than I knew when I said he was a master of improvisation. He's got a point though, this is probably our best chance at taking out the core. How does he come up with this stuff?' _Shaking her head to clear it, Asuka grabbed hold of the improvised weapon with both hands and began to stab it into the Angel's core. Her efforts were rewarded by an unearthly shriek as the Angel began to shake its mouth violently, apparently not realizing that unless it opened its jaws, Unit 02 would remain where it was.

Dimly Asuka could hear Misato's voice rattling off something about a plan and Shinji straining to respond. _'Hunh, so it's easier for you to control an Eva than it is for you to generate an AT field? That's weird, but useful to know.'_ The young German remained fixated on the red core of her enemy, striking it again and again, seeing cracks develop in it until Shinji spoke to her.

"Once you destroy the core, you're going to need to focus on the AT field with me, okay Asuka?"

She blinked for a moment in surprise before recalling. _'That's right, two of the other Angels exploded once their cores had been destroyed. Only makes sense that this one would follow suit and we're at point-blank range.'_ "You got it, Third. Ready?"

Seeing the boy nod, she slammed the fragment of tooth into the Angel's core one last time, shattering both the core and the weapon. Wasting no time, Asuka focused on generating the AT field, hoping that the blast wouldn't shred the umbilical cable and trap the two of them at the bottom of the ocean.

On board the mangled carrier, Misato watched in horror as the ocean erupted with a massive geyser of water. "Please let them have made it" her unfinished prayer was answered in a spectacular fashion as Unit 02 hurtled out of the sky to land on the carrier, crumpling the flight deck and threatening to capsize the huge vessel. As the ship returned to an even keel, the crimson Evangelion slumped over, the remains of its umbilical cable hanging limply from the power socket.

It was a boring thirty minutes trapped inside the entry plug waiting for the technicians to manually retrieve it from Unit 02's socket. Inside the fluid-filled cylinder, Asuka noted that the Third Child seemed unwilling to initiate conversations, but wasn't standoffish when she broached a topic. Still, the time spent was not wasted.

According to the Third, the First Child was 'socially inept' and coming from him that must really be saying something. Sadly, it also seemed that those two perverts were his only friends at school. That was something she'd have to correct. Those stooges weren't worthy of such lofty company as an Evangelion pilot. It also seemed Misato had picked up another stray somewhere along the way: a warm-water penguin that, if the Third could be believed, liked to drink beer and watch television. Then again, with Misato the beer drinking was perfectly believable. Finally it seemed that the only things the Third did aside from practice at NERV was cooking, playing the cello, and hanging out with those two idiots. Gott, the boy had no experience in actually living. Her work was clearly cut out for her. She'd have to find him some friends worthy of being near him and teach him how to enjoy life. Still, if anyone could do it, she could.

_'At least when I'm not with Kaji-san, that_ is', she mentally smirked. As they were finally able to disembark from her Eva, she noticed the two stooges pointing behind her and laughing. Turning, she saw Shinji blushing and trying to hide himself.

'_Why? Oh, of course, he's still wearing my spare suit and his old clothes are at the bottom of the ocean. Still, I should teach those idiots a lesson. Ah, that should work.'_

"Don't worry about it, Third. They're just jealous that you're going home to Captain Katsuragi and they aren't." Her smile and effort to make her voice loud enough for the duo to hear had the desired effect. Shinji's blush faded somewhat and he stood straighter, while the other two boys had assumed hangdog expressions. Sometimes, it was all too easy.

And speaking of Misato, there she was with some blond woman. They were discussing the battle by the look of it, and no sign of Kaji-san. She wanted to talk to him about her amazing victory over the Angel. Well, Misato should know where he was, even if she hated asking the older woman anything involving her beloved Kaji.

"Hi Misato! So, suitably impressed with my combat debut?" Both older women smiled at Asuka.

"Actually, yes I was. Dr. Akagi here," Misato indicated the blonde, "was telling me that both you and Shinji achieved new levels of synchronization during the fight."

Asuka was sidetracked by this revelation. "Wow, really?" _'Actual live combat must help boost the synch ratio! That's how the Third was able to get so high so quickly!'_

"Yes, actually the spike occurred right as the Angel self-destructed. According to Misato's report, that's when the two of you were both concentrating on the AT field, correct?"

Asuka wasn't sure she liked the clinical tone used by the doctor, but decided to not be affronted by it. "Yeah, that's right, I'd read that two of the previous three Angels had self destructed once their cores had been destroyed and joined the Third in focusing on the AT field to protect us." Thinking back, she remembered a feeling of warmth and strength as she'd put all her effort into the field. A side effect of two souls in the link, maybe?

The young girl shook that off and returned to her original focus. "Misato, where's Kaji-san? I wanted to see what he thought about my incredible victory, and to find out where we're staying."

"That rat fink fled on a fighter jet after the two of you went into the water" Misato ground out. Continuing on, she said "as for where you're staying, temporary quarters in the Geofront until we can find a more permanent place for you."

Asuka was stunned. Kaji, her beloved Kaji had run away? He'd actually had doubts about her inevitable victory? Sure it had been messier than she'd planned but the end result couldn't have been in doubt, could it? And he hadn't already arranged for her to be living with him? Couldn't that fool see they were meant to be together? Oooooh, he was going to have to do so much to make it up with her!

"One more thing, Asuka. I know you've already graduated from college, but you're going to attend school with the other two Pilots for socialization purposes." Dr. Akagi's voice was droll, her expression clearly implying to Asuka that the older woman felt she belonged with children. Well, fine then. Her own plans for building the Third into a reliable wingman would require a certain amount of interaction, especially at his school.

"That's ok. I can use the time to improve my kanji. I can't expect people here to be able to read German or English, after all." A shot right back at the arrogant doctor. Yes, all in all Asuka would have to say this was a nice start to her stay in Tokyo-3.


	2. Living In Harmony, Part I

"It's safe to say that both of us had problems when we each met Touji and Rei for the first time." – Dr. Ikari, Recollections of the Angel Wars

It had been a hectic week for Asuka, as she adjusted to life in Tokyo-3. Despite her best efforts, she was still unable to find Kaji-san in order to pester him about more permanent living arrangements. If she didn't know better she'd swear the man was deliberately avoiding her!

She sighed, blowing back up a few strands of hair that had drifted down her forehead. Still, even with the lack of progress on the Kaji front, the young woman had made definite progress at school. Four incidents in particular stood out in her mind.

- Monday

Asuka paused outside the classroom as she recognized some of the voices inside. '_That's those perverts and the Third. Wonder what they're talking about?'_ Delaying her triumphant introduction, she decided to eavesdrop. Who knew, maybe the Third would realize that he was too good for them.

"I'm tellin' ya I feel sorry for ya man, having ta work with that Red Devil." That would be the self-styled jock. Touji, she thought his name was. And how dare he call her a devil? If he wasn't such a huge pervert, she wouldn't have had to defend herself!

"A-actually I think you guys just got off on the wrong foot, Touji. She was nice enough to me, after all." She mentally groaned. '_Well, at least he's disagreeing with that stooge. It'd be nice if he was more willing to defend a woman, like Kaji. That's it! Kaji can start repaying me by teaching the Third how to stand up for a lady's honor!'_

"C'mon man. She was just nice to you because you're a fellow Eva pilot. We're your friends. We gotta stick together!" And that would be the other stooge, Kensuke. And that was just uncalled for. It's not like she went out of her way to be rude to people, it's just that there were so many idiots and perverts in the world.

"Sh-she wasn't the one who laughed at me for wearing that suit, now was she?" Ahhh, that was a good answer, Third. Remind those two and yourself of how rude they were. Don't let them drag you down to their level. Straightening her shoulders, Asuka decided now would be the perfect time to enter the classroom and break up their conversation.

Silence reigned as she walked in at the chalkboard. It was to be expected, of course; a new student from a foreign land - a student who was also an Eva pilot? Of course they'd focus all their attention on her.

Instead of writing her name on the board as was customary (and exposing atrocious kanji), she gave what she considered her best smile and said "hello. My name is Asuka Langley Soryu. I'm a new student here and the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02. I hope we can all get along."_ 'And as long as you children understand that Pilots are at the top of the pecking order, we shouldn't have any problems.'_

Asuka quickly struck up a friendship with the pigtailed girl who was serving as the Class Representative, one Hikari Horaki. The young redhead appreciated Hikari's no-nonsense attitude in class, along with her willingness to use force on those recalcitrant boys who tried to back talk her. Clearly this was a young woman after her own heart.

Hikari had even invited Asuka back to her house for so-called "girl talk". It was, of course, the perfect opportunity to gather information about the Third and his social status. Asuka needed to know what she had to start with before any work could commence. Refusing to stay in Hikari's room after seeing some of *them* on the other girl's bed, the redhead sat down on the couch.

"So," she began "as the class representative you must know that Shinji Ikari is an Eva pilot, right?"

Hikari nodded. "Yes, sensei is rather annoyed at the privileges given to Ikari, but we are aware of his responsibilities. That doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on him with regards to classwork, or with you, Miss Soryu!"

Asuka chuckled. "I'd never expect you to. Anyway, what I'm curious about is how he gets along with his classmates. I mean, obviously those two stooges consider themselves his friends, though I don't know what on earth he sees in them."

The other girl frowned. "Well, actually it's kinda complicated. It all started because Touji's sister got hurt when that first monster attacked the city. Touji blamed Shinji for it and punched him."

"Wait!" Asuka glared at her. "That pervert actually punched an Evangelion pilot and didn't get his ass handed to him by Section 2?" '_Ok Third, we're definitely going to have to shape up your unarmed combat skills if those idiots don't protect you.'_

"Well, it happened so fast, and Shinji didn't cause a fuss. But it turned out okay, because those two idiots" Hikari was still angry about that little escapade "left the shelter to watch Ikari fight that second monster and he wound up saving their lives."

'_Were they those two civilians were on the recording? The Third's got some real devotion to the job, pulling two people who beat him up into his entry plug, even knowing it's gonna wreck his synch score.'_

Hikari continued on, smirking. "As if that wasn't enough to make them want to be friends, Touji's sister read him the riot act over what he did to Ikari when they first met."

Asuka blinked. "Wait, the stooge's sister yelled at him for punching Shinji?" She hadn't even met the girl, and already the redhead was warming up to her.

Hikari nodded. "Yeah, and Touji did the only thing he could think of to get Ikari's forgiveness. He went and begged Shinji to punch him back."

Asuka smirked back. "And did he do it?" Personally she had a hard time picturing the meek boy she'd met on the carrier doing anything like simply slugging someone.

"According to Touji he did, and Touji was even bragging about it to some upper classmen, saying that he hopes he never gets Ikari really mad at him. Anyway, after that, I guess the two of them decided that Shinji deserved some kind of friend at school, and nominated themselves."

"So wait, did they scare off anyone else?" Asuka was going to have to mete out some punishment if that was the case. Those two losers couldn't be allowed to isolate the Third.

"Actually no, Ikari's been pretty quiet in class. He almost never talks to anyone except Kensuke, Touji, or Rei." Hikari frowned. "It's something of a shame really, given all the girls that seem interested in him. She blushed and quickly added "but not me, though."

Asuka arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that, Miss Horaki?" Hikari meekly nodded. Unsure of the other girl's honesty, the redhead continued to press. "But there is someone else you're interested in?"

Hikari nodded again. "Please, Asuka, just drop it."

Not willing to jeopardize her intelligence gathering, Asuka relented. "Okay then, but I expect to get a little more information about this special man of yours another time. So there's a bunch of girls interested in our Mr. Ikari. Is the First, err, I mean Rei, one of them?"

"I don't know, to be honest. Rei doesn't show up all that often, and when she does, it's like she's barely there at all. Honestly, Ikari's the only person who's managed to get her to talk and from what I've overheard it's mostly short plain sentences. I don't think she's a serious contender."

'_She's an Evangelion pilot. That automatically puts her ahead of any mere schoolgirl, just like I would be, if I didn't already have Kaji-san. Still, it's good to know that the Third has suitors. Now I just need to find one good enough for him. I mean, having a girlfriend will do wonders for his self-esteem. And Lord knows that boy needs some.'_

"Do you think I could meet the girls, Hikari? After all, we have to be sure they wouldn't be a security risk for NERV." Asuka mentally smirked at her clever excuse.

Hikari mentally smirked as well, but for an entirely different reason. '_Looking to scope out the competition, Ms. Soryu? Well, if it keeps you from taking a second look at Touji I can definitely help.' _"I'm sure I can set that up."

scene break

- Wednesday

Asuka sighed as the bell announced lunchtime. The First was absent again, but that seemed to be par for the course. She also hadn't thought it possible, but the teacher was even more boring than she ever could have imagined, constantly referencing the way things were 'before Second Impact had changed everything'.

The redhead gazed out at the various groups of students eating their lunches, looking for either Hikari or her fellow pilot (and future wingman). Finding them both in the company of the two stooges, she groaned quietly and stalked over to find out what they were all discussing.

"…and I'm telling you it's an accurate replica that can be put into various poses, class rep." Kensuke was arguing with Hikari over something the boys had on the ground. She couldn't quite see it yet, but knowing those two it was probably something indecent. Well, except that the Third only looked resigned, not embarrassed like she'd expect him to be over something obscene.

Hikari looked up and noticed the young German. "Asuka, come here and give us your opinion, would you?" The redhead smirked as she saw Touji and Kensuke cringe at the mention of her name. Approaching closer, she saw that they were discussing a pair of foot-tall Evangelion figures.

"Well, they're obviously too well-crafted for the stooge here to make by himself. Pity that neither one of them is Unit 02. But why ask me? I'm sure Shinji could have told you that." She nodded slightly to the Third, who gave her a faint smile in return.

Hikari shook her head. "Actually, I was telling Mr. Aida that I found it funny he still plays with dolls." With Hikari's attention focused on the objects in question and both Touji and Kensuke focused on Hikari, only Shinji was able to notice Asuka's short and sharp inhalation of breath.

'_Must have caught herself before she started yelling. Good, I was afraid she'd join Hikari in making fun of Kensuke. I mean, sure it's odd to be playing around with those things, but you have to expect that from an otaku like him.'_ Shinji shook his head, still half-watching his fellow pilot out of one eye.

'_Evangelions? Did she just compare my Unit 02 to a d-to one of *them*? No! It's not true, they're not!'_ Asuka's mind raced as Hikari and Kensuke continued their banter.

"It's not a doll, class rep, it's not even one of those action figures. This is a model replica! I mean sure, you can move the arms and legs around and pose it, but that's so you can get the proper heroic action sequences!" Kensuke hotly defended his possessions.

"Yes, and I could move the arms and legs of my Japan Barbie dolls so they could properly kneel for tea ceremonies. What's your point?" Hikari grinned at the boy's expression, hoping this might get Touji to notice her as something other than class representative.

'_But…but no! Evas are machines! They're like tanks, or shuttles. Not like *them*!'_ Asuka's face began to pale as she grappled with this line of reasoning.

"Aw c'mon class rep! Ev'rybody knows that they ain't dolls when they're military. Then they're action figures!" Touji seemed impressed with his ability to compromise between the opposing viewpoints of Kensuke and Hikari. Like them, the jock missed Asuka's face as it turned pale.

"Well why don't we see what Ms. Soryu thinks about them then, Mr. Suzahara?" Hikari turned, only to find that Asuka had run off. "Where did she..?" Her question was cut short as Shinji raced after the redhead.

'_What's wrong with her? Did something one of the others said upset her? How could an argument about toys upset her? Unless maybe she thinks it's insulting her somehow?'_ The young boy's mind raced as he quickly caught up to his fellow pilot. "A-Asuka what's wrong? I saw your face go pale."

Asuka started in surprise. _'Mein Gott, he saw me, I need to think fast.'_ "I think I ate something that disagreed with me. Which way is the infirmary, Third?"

Shinji was skeptical, but said nothing, wishing to avoid the ire she'd displayed back on the carrier. "This way, come on, I'll take you there."

As they walked down the school hallway, Asuka decided she had to see what the boy's opinion was about the Evas, hoping that he would agree with her views. "Shinji, what do you think about Eva? About what Hikari and the others said, I mean?"

Shinji frowned. _'So I was right. She didn't like hearing the Evangelions referred to as toys.'_ "I think that the Evangelions are too important to be represented by toys. I know I feel a sense of comfort inside Unit 01, and I never had a toy do that for me." Not that he was terribly bothered by the toys, of course. Or that he had any real say in the matter. The people at NERV probably thought it was good PR or something.

Asuka smiled. "Yeah, I agree. In fact, if something happened to that stooge's toys I wouldn't be broken up about it." It felt good, knowing that her wingman viewed the Eva like she did.

However, Shinji was confused. He knew Asuka was smarter than he was, after she'd bragged about her college degree the other day. He also knew that she was far more interested in Evas than he was. Why hadn't she thought of the potential PR benefit? Something to worry about later, he supposed.

Further conversation was curtailed as the two arrived at the infirmary. After Shinji excused himself, it was a simple matter for Asuka to convince the nurse that it was only a momentary upset stomach, and that she was feeling fine. "My friend is just a little over-protective; it's my first week in school here, after all." She gave a little grin. Surely she wasn't exaggerating too much to call the Third her friend, was she? After all, they'd worked together to kill an Angel!

The rest of the day proceeded uneventfully, with the two teenagers entrusted with the protection of humanity returning to their respective abodes after a very boring history lesson. Once there, each pilot would discover something new.

Scene Break

Asuka sighed as she propped open a German to Japanese dictionary and started on her homework. It was a good thing that none of this was new to her, since between her constant need to look up the proper kanji and the sensei's constant references to the changes of Second Impact, she would have the same chance of keeping up as a snowball in He…she stopped as she realized something.

'_I've never seen snow in person. Nobody has, since the global climate change following Second Impact. The next generation won't see it either. That's not all they won't see. There are historical landmarks that are underwater now, and species that have gone extinct. That must be why the sensei keeps talking about the changes of Second Impact! He's trying to keep some memory of it alive in us!'_

Well, it didn't change the fact that he was still a boring man with boring lectures, but she could respect what he was doing. With a merry hum, Asuka went back to working on her math problems.

Scene Break

In the Katsuragi/Ikari residence, however, there was a distinct lack of merriment. Shinji had just finished explaining his idea of using replica Evas to plan out tactics on a map table, instead of using the expensive simulator pods and was now looking at his guardian with a feeling of confusion.

Misato, on the other hand, looked at him with sorrow in her eyes. "Shinji-kun, if it was just you and Rei, that would be a great idea. As it is, however…do you know what pediophobia is?" She was enough of a coward to hope he did, sparing her the need to explain. She was also enough of an adult to spare him the need to search on his own.

"No, Misato-san, I don't. I hope it doesn't mean what it sounds like. I don't see how that could, err." He struggled to explain that. Shinji Ikari was no naïve waif, but that was still something that should not be talked about in polite company.

Misato laughed. "No, Shinji-kun, it doesn't. It means 'fear of dolls'. Asuka…she has a severe case of it." _'And that's a Hell of an understatement.'_ She bitterly thought.

"Huh? But that doesn't make sense. Asuka's so strong-willed, how can she be afraid of little dolls?" But as Shinji protested, he realized it would explain her reaction earlier in the day.

Misato's face took on a serious expression - what she and Shinji both referred to as her 'work expression'. "I don't want to have to order you to, but I'm asking you please Shinji, do not ask Asuka about it, or let on that you know about her problem. It's something that happened to her many years ago, and is best left in her past, okay?"

Shinji nodded. He had no desire to cause her pain, after all.

scene break

- Thursday

Asuka was livid. She'd discovered that someone was selling pictures of her to the boys in school. And not just glamour shots, either. Those she would have tolerated, even willingly given more of in exchange for a share in the profits. No, some of these were of the up-skirt and locker-room style that she knew filled the minds of idiot boys and even some loathsome men. When she found out who was behind this she'd…was that Ikari's voice in the stairwell? He sounded angry.

"I'm telling you guys, I want you to stop it." Yes, that was definitely the Third's voice. Best to wait and see how he handled whatever the problem was. It could help his confidence issues, and that would make him a better wingman.

"Aw c'mon, Shin-man, it's not like we're hurting anyone." That was the annoying jock, Suzahara. What were they doing that had Ikari so upset? Was he starting to see that he was above associating with them? Asuka believed she had gotten him to start improving, but this much, already?

"It's demeaning to her, and dishonorable. I won't allow it." Of course, it had to do with a girl! Maybe even someone the Third liked? Wait, the one stooge had a camera – pictures . . . pictures of her? Were those two the culprits?

Asuka could feel her teutonic rage building, but before she stormed around the corner in all her fury . . .

"Hey, she started it! She's the one going around school lying about us, calling us perverts! That was an accident on board the carrier!" That was the other one, Kensuke. And how dare he call her a liar! Of course they were huge perverts who just leapt at a chance to defile a young woman! So incensed was she that the redhead almost missed Shinji's retort.

"Yes, I know it was an accident. And you're right, she's overreacting. But you know what? Doing this is not exactly helping your case! I mean really, Kensuke . . . sneaking pictures of the girl's changing room? That's pretty much pervert cliché! And selling them? That's even worse, Touji! You're better than that!"

Wait. The Third was actually . . . agreeing with them? But, he was also chastising them. Was it possible maybe that he saw them like she saw him? He was actually trying to improve them? Something in the back of her mind twitched, but she dismissed it as a product of her slowly cooling ire.

"We were just giving her a taste of her own medicine, but when you put it that way . . . dammit Touji, he's right. The two of us are acting like they do in all those corny TV shows."

'_And just like in those stupid TV shows, stooge, you'll realize that you were wrong all along and that I was right.'_ Asuka waited for the Third to tell them, but before he could speak . . .

"Hey look, Shinji, we'll stop with the pictures, but for the love of God, could you get her to stop denigrating us around the school? I got a hard enough time with the Class Rep without Devil Girl tryin' ta make it worse."

The redhead blinked. That jock had actually used the word 'denigrating' in a grammatically correct fashion. And why was he worried about Hikari? From what she saw, the pigtailed girl didn't treat either of the two boys as harshly as they deserved.

She heard Shinji sigh. "Look guys, I'll do what I can but it's really up to the two of you to get her off your backs. If you stop giving her reasons to get angry with you, maybe she'll realize she was wrong about you. She's really nowhere near as bad as you think she is."

Asuka smiled slightly. She was right! He really was trying to improve them, to get them to rise above their natures! Well, that kind of initiative had to be rewarded. She'd need to refrain from beating those two idiots like they so richly deserved. She'd probably also have to abandon her plans to drive them away from the Third if he was intent on reforming them, so it would be best to get on speaking terms with the duo.

The door opened and Shinji walked out. Catching sight of Asuka he paled and began stammering. "A-Asuka, er, um, hello . . ." the girl stopped him with an upraised hand.

"Don't worry Third, I was listening. And I have to say I'm impressed with how you handled it. In fact, when I talk to them, I promise," Asuka grimaced slightly to indicate her displeasure, "to not hurt them unless they try something while we're just talking. Okay?" She glossed over the fact that he'd called her wrong. Obviously it was just a motivational ploy to get those two to agree.

He smiled uneasily. "O-okay then, I trust you."

Nodding, Asuka walked breezily into the stairway, much to the shock and surprise of Touji and Kensuke. She decided it would be best to be polite, throwing them off guard. "So, how much money did the two of you make from my pictures?"

Touji looked shamefaced. "Up till now, we've gotten ten thousand yen. It's a pity none of the guys buying asked about your personality."

Hah. The stooge was trying to bait her into starting something, probably expecting the Third to overhear it and intervene, which would interfere with her own plans for the boy. Well too bad for him. Asuka Soryu was far too clever to be tricked like that.

"Yeah, too bad for them I'm sure." She'd never tolerate anyone who only cared about her looks. No, she wanted someone caring, like her dear Kaji-san. "So, were people interested in these pictures?" She fanned out some of the tamer ones. These were the ones of her in her school uniform, walking down the street, or in the hallways.

"Actually yeah" piped up Kensuke, "a lot of them were. A couple of the guys wanted complete sets, of course."

"Of course they did," Asuka sneered. "Look. I'll make you two a deal. You can keep selling the uniform pictures, and I'll even pose for new ones. In return, I want seventy percent of the money you make from them. And I'll stop calling you perverts if . . ." she paused for a second, "if you agree to help me help Shinji."

The two boys exchanged a glance. "We'll help you if we think it's in Shinji's best interests, sure. But I think we deserve the seventy percent, not you." Kensuke smiled. "After all, it's my camera."

"Forty percent", shot back Asuka.

"Sixty!" Came the response from Touji.

"Fifty!"

"It's a deal." Kensuke stuck out his hand for Asuka to shake.

She took it. "I'll give you one warning, geek. If I find out you've been selling any indecent pictures of me or any other girl . . . it won't end pretty for you. Got it?"

"Relax, demon." Asuka silently seethed at the term, but Kensuke blithely continued on. "Shinji would kill us if we tried. Besides, look at the quality of those pictures. Frankly, they stink and I'm ashamed that people don't recognize the abysmal lighting in them." He continued on, ranting about technical matters of photography that left Asuka and Touji unwillingly sharing the same lost expression.

"Fine, fine, I get it. You didn't like the pictures either." '_For obviously different reasons, of course.'_ "I do have a question. How in the blazes did you manage to get some of those?"

Kensuke coughed into his hand. "Well, I took an escape and evasion course last year, and I spend a lot of time camping out in the woods. That really helps you learn how to move around silently and without being noticed."

Asuka sniffed. '_So he's a bit of a survivalist? That might come in handy when it's time for the Third to get more exercise.'_

The three teens finalized their agreement with each other and left the stairwell. It would turn out to be quite a profitable venture for all of them in the months to come.

scene break

- Friday

It started out like every other day of the week had so far. Wake up in her temp quarters after failing to find Kaji-san the previous night, get dressed, and take the surface transport to to school. As usual, she caught a glimpse of the Third Child making his way to the main doors, and hurried to catch up with him.

"Wipe that frown off your face, Third. You should be happy to be going to school with the awesome Asuka Langley Soryu!" Asuka smiled at the boy. She really couldn't understand why he acted so depressed most of the time. It's not like anyone hated him. Hell, she couldn't see why anyone would hate him. He was perhaps the most inoffensive person she'd ever met.

"Oh hello Asuka. Are you enjoying Japan so far?" Shinji smiled at the spirited German. It was a natural reflex for him, she just seemed too full of life for him *not* to smile in greeting

"Well, aside from being stuck in those smelly temp quarters because Kaji-san's having trouble getting all the paperwork filed," '_which is also keeping him from spending time with me'_, "it's been pretty good." She nodded at him. "The company helps too. And speaking of company, is the other one here today?"

"Other one?" Shinji looked puzzled.

"I mean the First Child. Did she actually show up today?" Asuka was a little annoyed that not only had the First managed to skip school all week, but that people expected it of her!

"Oh." Shinji scanned the courtyard. "Yeah, there she is, on the bench." He pointed and Asuka could see a girl with blue hair reading a book. Well, at least it wouldn't be hard picking the First out of a crowd. She idly wondered why the other girl took the time to dye her hair.

"Wunderbar! Thank you, Shinji." As she turned to walk over to the other girl, Shinji held up a hand.

"Asuka, wait." Obliging the boy, she paused to hear him out.

"She . . . she doesn't know how to interact with people. Please don't be offended by her." Asuka raised an eyebrow at this, but Shinji remained firm. "Please, trust me on this. She's going to say or do something that'll upset you. Don't take it personally, she just doesn't know any better."

She nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, Third. Don't worry about either of us." With that, she walked over to the oblivious First Child, ignoring the small group of students who were gathering to watch the latest attempt to engage Rei Ayanami in what was likely to be a futile conversation. After successfully handling the two stooges yesterday, dealing with a young woman (and a fellow Pilot at that!) would be a cinch.

Rei was contentedly reading her book when a shadow fell across it. She decided it was another student, most likely male, and seeking to involve her in dialogue. Not seeing the point in that, she shifted slightly, moving the book back into the light. Unpleasantly, the shadow moved again to cover the book. Rei frowned inwardly and looked up.

Asuka smiled as the First Child acknowledged her presence. However, she was slightly taken aback by the other girl's face. _'Red eyes and blue hair? That can't be natural. Is she trying to act out or is she some kind of frea – ok, stop that. She's a fellow Pilot. We're the same rank, even if she's not in the same league as me, or even Ikari. She deserves that much respect at least.'_

"Hi there," she chirped. "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu, Second Child. You're the First Child, right?"

"That is correct", replied Rei in a monotone voice.

"Err, sorry, but I didn't catch your name. What was it, again?" Schiess, and she'd thought getting the *Third* Child to talk had been difficult.

"Rei Ayanami." Again with the monotone.

"Good to meet you, Rei. Let's be friends!" Asuka stuck out her hand.

Rei looked at it without changing her expression. "Why?"

Asuka blinked. _'Shinji was right. She *is* upsetting me. Calm down. She doesn't know any better.'_ "Well, since all three of us are going to be in the field together, it would be better if we were friends. It would foster a sense of camaraderie and help with teamwork." The redhead was uncomfortable with having to explain herself, but it had to be done.

"If I am ordered to, I will." Rei didn't bother to shrug, change the tone of her voice, or alter her expression.

Outwardly, the only sign of Asuka's discomfort was a momentary twitch of her eyebrows. Rei took the extended silence as an end to the conversation and went back to her book. Inwardly, however, Asuka was a storm of confusion and rage.

'_What the Hell is that? 'If I am ordered to'? Can't she make up her own mind? And what's with the blank face and lifeless voice? It's like I'm talking to some kind of automaton. Like she's a . . . NO! NO! She's not! She's a person! She's just a messed up person! Stop thinking like this!'_

The redhead turned around, shaking, only to see Shinji standing there and watching her with a concerned expression. Belatedly, she also noticed some of the other students watching the entire confrontation. Before she could suffer any further humiliation however, the cell phones for all three Pilots began beeping an instantly recognizable warning.

An Angel was coming.


	3. Living In Harmony, Part II

"Looking back, this was the best thing Misato ever did for us, although it seemed pretty stupid at the time. After all, who ever heard of a battle choreographed to the tune of a string orchestra? What do you mean, 'Apocalypse Now'? What does some pre-Impact movie have to do with…'Ride of the Valkyries'?"

– Dr. Ikari, Recollections of the Angel War

Asuka sat comfortably in Unit 02's entry plug. Shinji was piloting his own Eva this time, instead of operating as her copilot. _'Means I'll have to pay attention to the video link myself. Small price to have a second Eva on the field though.'_

A quick glance at her screens showed the boy in question, fidgeting slightly. Their Evangelions were being airlifted via massive flying wing transports. Captain Katsuragi was on her main channel, briefing both Pilots on the overall situation and battle plan.

"We've only managed to restore twenty-six percent of Tokyo-3's defenses since Ramiel's attack, so our goal is to intercept and destroy the Angel away from the city. We're in no shape to fight a battle there right now."

Asuka nodded. The excessive damage was obviously due to the foolish decision to withhold fire from the static emplacements prior to Eva deployment. Sure, the guns would still have been destroyed, but at least then they'd have known not to put Unit 01 directly in front of the particle beam.

"So the plan is for you two to engage the Angel at the shoreline and defeat it there. Unit 01 will engage first with the automatic rifle. Unit 02 will then close and engage with the progressive spear. Got it?" Misato looked at the monitors connecting her to both children.

"Roger," replied Asuka and Shinji. The redhead looked at her secondary channel. "Okay Third, it's time for our first proper battle against the Angels. You back me up while I take it down, all right?"

"All right, Asuka. But please, be careful." Shinji wore a worried expression.

'_That's his experience talking Asuka, not cowardice. He's had some bad runs against the first three Angels so now you need to show him how it's done. That should get rid of his concern.'_

"Don't worry, Third. We'll beat this Angel and be back in time to receive the praises of our classmates." She smiled, trying to impart some of her confidence to him through the link.

It was then that the warning buzzers sounded and both Evas were detached from the transports with a series of metallic 'clanks'. The Evangelions fell through the atmosphere, landing in crouches near their respective mobile power units before standing with fluid grace.

Asuka grabbed her progressive spear from the nearby flatbed truck as the engineering team inserted the power cable into Unit 02's socket with practiced ease. Glancing to her right she noticed that Shinji had likewise armed his Eva and was connected to external power.

Smirking, the redhead commented to her companion. "Two against one, doesn't seem like a fair fight, does it Third?"

Before he could respond, Misato's angry voice came over the line. "This is war, Asuka, not a game! I don't care what's fair or not!"

"Okay, okay," responded the chagrinned german girl. Muttering under her breath she continued. "Sheesh, it was just a joke anyways."

Further conversation was curtailed as a gigantic spout of water erupted from the bay, revealing the enemy. It stood there for a few seconds, arms raised towards the sky before pivoting its entire body to face the two Evangelions.

'_It looks like a giant hairless gorilla. Not exactly what I'd call impressive. Ah well.'_ "Okay Third, on my mark. Three. . . Two. . . One. . . Mark!" And with that Asuka urged Unit 02 into a loping run, moving to the side to give Shinji a clear field of fire.

As she raced towards the Angel, Asuka noted with approval the three-round bursts that impacted the enemy in its chest, near the mask-like 'face'. _'Won't need to train him on firearms, excellent. And it seems my target is stunned from his attack.'_

It was a sound assumption, as the Angel had not even so much as turned to look at Unit 02 or taken a single step towards Unit 01 once the gunfire had begun. With a mighty war cry, Asuka leaped her Evangelion into the water, swinging the progressive spear downward like a headsman's axe.

The blade sliced completely through the Angel, bisecting it cleanly in a single brutal cut. The two halves fell to either side as Asuka stood her Eva back up and turned the crimson machine towards Unit 01 and Shinji.

"Now that's how it should be done, hey? Finish the fighting quickly and decisively. Don't you agree, Third Child?" Asuka's good mood started to evaporate as she saw the uncertain expression on the other Pilot's face.

"Er Asuka, are you sure you destroyed the core?" Shinji kept his rifle trained on the Angel.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I…" Asuka's angry retort trailed off as she noticed movement from the supposed corpse. "Hey!"

The two halves of the Angel shuddered, and Asuka watched in disgusted horror as the outer skin sloughed off. Like snakes shedding their skins, a pair of Angels rose from the discarded halves of the original.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Misato's voice rang in her ears as Asuka backed away from her newly twinned opponent.

'_Thanks for the tactical advice, Misato. Dammit, why didn't I check for the core before jumping?'_ The redhead tried to keep both Angels in front of her.

"Hang on, Asuka, I'm coming!" Shinji smoothly lowered the pallet rifle to the ground with his left hand while gracefully drawing his progressive knife with his right. Asuka would have been impressed, had she not been focused on defending herself from the two Angels now attacking her.

"Any…time…now…Third." The young woman was barely managing to fend off her adversaries. Blocking the attack of one Angel only left her open to the other; the two monsters coordinated their attacks without ceasing. _'I hope he's not as bad at hand to hand as he seemed from that fight with the third Angel.'_

scene break

Asuka slumped in the briefing room chair, wincing as she felt her bruises make contact with the unyielding metal. _'Well'_, she thought wryly, _'looks like he *was* as bad as he seemed at hand to hand. Owie.'_

She fiddled with the towel draped around her shoulders. Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki had insisted the two of them be taken directly from the field for this so-called debriefing. _'Sheesh. We could be going over what we learned from the attack, but no! Instead we're just being yelled at.'_

"This is humiliating." The sub-commander sounded like one of Asuka's old college professors, which was not exactly inspiring the young woman. "Do either of you have any idea what your job is?"

Asuka shrugged. "Why, piloting Eva, of course."

"Wrong! Your job is to defeat Angels! And *that*," Fuyutsuki pointed angrily at a photo of Unit-02 lying half-buried in the ground, with the armor buckled and torn, "is not defeating Angels!"

The redhead seethed at the rebuke. _'Oh, silly me. And here I thought it was *NERV's* job to defeat the Angels. Shinji and I are Pilots, after all, not the ones making all the decisions.'_ She glanced over to where Kaji was slouched in his chair, that omnipresent smirk still gracing his features. _'And you're yelling at me in front of Kaji-san, when this is the first time I've seen him in a week!'_

"What, like its *my* fault somehow that Shinji didn't…" she trailed off as she caught a glimpse of the hurt and anger in the Third's eyes. _'Mind that temper, Asuka. Don't want to make him leave, like Momma or Poppa. He's my friend.'_

"Shinji didn't…what, Second Child?" Fuyutsuki chided as the girl's pause stretched out.

Asuka blinked. "Why, that Shinji didn't receive the necessary training in teamwork and hand to hand combat, Sub-Commander." She returned his gaze levelly. "I mean, I certainly had no input into the decision-making that kept the Third from receiving any training with an Evangelion until Sachiel arrived. It's not my job to decide that, right? My job is to defeat Angels."

Fuyutsuki glared at her. "This is pointless. You will have to learn to cooperate better in the future." The old man turned and left the room without another word.

Asuka turned to her Kaji-san. "What's his problem, anyway?"

He chuckled. "Well, adults don't like to be embarrassed. And I think you managed to do that, Asuka."

She huffed. "Well then, he should keep that in mind when he talks to us! It works both ways you know!"

Shinji grinned and looked around the room. "Hey, where's Misato-san?"

Kaji leaned back in his chair. "As the person in charge of the operation, she had to deal with the resulting paperwork. I wouldn't expect her back tonight, Mr. Ikari."

The young man shrugged and excused himself for home, leaving Asuka alone with Kaji, just like she'd been trying for all week. "So Kaji, does this mean you'll have the time to take me out to dinner?" _'He does owe me for skipping out on the carrier and being busy all week, after all.'_

"Sorry kiddo, but I have to help work out a plan to beat that Angel without rearranging more of the landscape." Kaji stood up and ruffled Asuka's hair before leaving with a grin.

'_I *hate* it when he does that, acting like I'm just a little girl. Come on Kaji, what will it take for you to see me as a woman?'_ Asuka glared at the back of the retreating older man.

With nobody left in the room to take out her frustration on, Asuka left to return to her annoyingly not-so-temporary quarters.

scene break

Asuka rang the doorbell again, wondering if the apartment's residents hadn't heard it the first time. _'Well Kaji I'm sure you did your best, but the Japanese just aren't as sophisticated as they claim to be.'_ Still, since arriving at Tokyo-3 her marvelous Kaji had also been…something of a disappointment.

The redhead shook her head and used the key she'd been given with her official assignment notice earlier that morning. 'Pilot Asuka Langley Soryu, Captain Misato Katsuragi has been assigned as your guardian. Your new housing assignment is her apartment.'

'_And that was it, just a note and a paper saying my things were being taken to the apartment. I had to find out myself where she lived. Still, I suppose Misato and Kaji-san are both busy trying to come up with a way to kill that Angel before it regenerates.'_

The door opened easily, and Asuka walked into a clean, quiet little apartment. Having lived with Misato in Germany, she was pleasantly surprised at the lack of trash strewn about the place. It seemed Misato's housekeeping had improved over the years. _'I only hope her cooking has as well.'_

Poking around further she quickly found the Third's room; his name emblazoned on the door left no doubt. She didn't know why it had taken NERV so long to get him situated with his father, but at least now Misato wouldn't have the chance to corrupt the boy with her behavior. _'She's probably been parading around in next to nothing, trying to get him to wash her back or something.'_ Oh yes, Asuka was well aware of how her rival for Kaji's affections acted.

'_Definitely not an ideal situation, but at least this way I can keep a better eye on her.'_ Asuka opened the door and looked at what was going to be her new room.

'_What the…? He's hasn't packed yet? Maybe he's in a meeting or filling out paperwork for the transfer. Well, I can do him a favor and pack for him. And if I happen to learn more about him, that's just a happy coincidence, right?'_ Asuka convinced herself.

She quickly found that her fellow Pilot didn't own much. The only clothes in his closet were more of those white shirts and black slacks that made up the school uniform. Clearly, she'd have to help him with his wardrobe. Aside from an old SDAT player and a few cookbooks, the only other things in his room were a cello case and some sheet music books.

'_That's it? No mangas, no video games, no personal computer? No pictures? I would have expected a poster or two at least, something that could provide a little insight into his personality.'_ Asuka chuckled. _'Not even any porn. Outside of your Eva, you are a very boring boy, Shinji Ikari. If you're lucky, I'll change that.'_

Emptying one of her boxes onto her new futon, the girl neatly placed the clothing in the bottom of the box, followed by the books and SDAT player. Making a mental note to ask the Third if she could borrow one of the cookbooks in case Misato's cooking hadn't improved, Asuka finished the box by placing the cutesy door sign on top and carried it out to the living room.

Moving one of her clothing boxes into the closet, Asuka brought out the cello case and examined it. The weathered appearance gave the impression of age, and her eyes caught sight of a small golden nameplate by the handle. Brushing her thumb over it, she read the name out loud. "Ikari, Y. Not Shinji's then or his father's. Obviously a relative though. Why wouldn't he be staying with them instead of Misato-san?"

Her curiosity overrode her reluctance to handle another musician's instrument without their permission, she popped the latches and opened the case to gaze upon the cello. _'It's so old! This is definitely not a store-bought piece. I wonder if it has a maker's mark like mine does?'_ Asuka's violin was a true antique, crafted shortly before the Second World War. Deftly, Asuka turned the cello over to see if she could find who had made it. Gasping in shock at the recognizable inscription on the back, she managed to respectfully lower the instrument back into its case and almost reverently closed the latches.

'_This is a Stradivarius! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never have believed it! Well, that should make it pretty simple to find out who "Ikari, Y." is. Just have to trace the ownership records, and I'll get my first bit of information about his history.'_ Swept up in the excitement of her discovery, she missed hearing the front door open or Shinji's announcement that he was home.

"What are all these boxes doing in the hall?" Shinji's voice outside the room snapped Asuka out of her reverie. She quickly stood and moved away from the cello case. The last thing Asuka wanted the boy to think was that she was snooping, especially since she was. Even if it was for his own good!

"Oh, those are mine, Third. I put your stuff in a box on the couch. Except for your cello, of course, I left that alone." Asuka expected gratitude or at the very least some appreciation from the boy. At the very worst, a worried question about her 'snooping'. What she got, however, was something she was totally unprepared for.

"Wh-what do you mean? Why would you do that?" His confused and panicked expression momentarily bewildered the girl.

'_What? Does he honestly not know about the change?'_ "Well, I noticed you weren't packed yet, so I figured I'd be nice and pack for you. Did you have to fill out your move paperwork today? Or were they putting you through extra training this morning?" Asuka felt a *little* guilty if that were the case, since she'd pointed out NERV's failure in that area. But only a little, he did need it after all.

"What do you mean, 'move'? A-am I being replaced?" Asuka was becoming annoyed with the Third's behavior. It wasn't like anyone was leaving him, after all.

"Of course not you dummkopf, you're an Eva pilot! Nobody can replace you! But since I'm moving in with Misato that obviously means they've sorted out whatever problems were keeping you from living with your dad." At least Asuka hoped that was the case. She didn't want to picture Ikari moving in with Kaji-san while she was stuck with Misato.

The expressions that crossed the Third Child's face were not what Asuka expected. Surprise, of course, but not the fear, anger, or despair. It was almost like he didn't *want* to live with his father, which made no sense, really…

"Oh good, you're both here." Misato's arrival interrupted Asuka probing further.

"Miss Misato, did I do something wrong?" Asuka choked back a groan as she heard the near-sniveling tone of Shinji's voice.

"Huh? Of course not, Shinji-kun, why would you ask that?" Misato casually tossed her work jacket onto the couch, where it landed on the box containing Shinji's things.

"Because the idiot thinks I'm replacing him. I would have thought NERV was competent enough to keep Pilots informed of changes to their living conditions, especially when that Pilot is the son of the commander!" Asuka was *not* going to be made out as the bad guy here. Someone else had screwed up by not informing Shinji about the move.

Misato narrowed her eyes. "The fact that you're moving in with us doesn't mean he's being replaced. What did you tell him, Miss Soryu?"

'_Scheisse! We're going to be living here together, both of us! Stupid, I should have checked first. Gott, it makes sense now. Ikari's been living here for months - there has to be another reason he's not staying with his father. And now because of me he thinks that I'm replacing him too.'_

Asuka's reply belied the turmoil in her head. "Well what was I supposed to think? That I was going to be living in the same apartment as him? It's not proper for unrelated boys and girls to live together! Besides, it'd probably do the Third good to have a more responsible adult role model." Asuka would try to apologize to Ikari in private later, but *not* in front of the lavender-haired captain.

Misato looked as if she wanted to throttle Asuka like the red-headed child she was, but managed to refrain and instead replied icily "One would think that adults would be able to handle the stress of living together."

"Don't you patronize me, Captain Katsuragi!" Asuka fairly snarled before bringing her temper under control. "Fine then, we're all *adults* here. Why don't you explain why the three of us are sharing an apartment?" Asuka barely kept a grin off her face as Misato struggled to compose herself again. Shinji cracked a slight smile but he carefully concealed it from the Captain.

Misato grabbed a beer as she spread out several reports on the dining table. "From what we can tell, the Seventh Angel – Israfel, has two separate Cores. Unless both are destroyed simultaneously, one will regenerate the other. To pull this off, both Evas will need to be operating in perfect synchronization with each other. That will require complete cooperation and coordination between the two of you."

The two Pilots looked at each other, then back at Misato. Shinji voiced the question. "But how are we going to do that? B-besides, the Angels are dormant now, can't we just destroy the cores while they're regenerating?"

Asuka nodded, pleased that the Third could see the obvious issues with the so-called 'plan'.

Misato shook her head. "The Angels are still protected by their AT field, which means our only options are either another N2 mine, or Eva. Unit 00 is still being repaired from Ramiel's attack and both of your Evas require extensive repairs after your first encounter. Hopefully we can get them working again in less than six days, which is how much time you have to memorize the sequence of moves set to this music." She held up a cassette. "It's also how long we believe it will take the Angel to fully regenerate and continue the attack, so this isn't arbitrary."

This time Asuka responded. "Okay, that makes sense I guess. We need to get started right away then." The redhead got up and walked to the couch. "Hey, uh, Third? I know you were here first, but I do have a lot more stuff than you. Would you mind taking the smaller room?"

Shinji nodded. He could manage just fine in the spare bedroom, and Misato had just said they needed to work on their cooperation. "S-sure Asuka, let me just move my cello in there."

Three days later

Kensuke pushed the button for Shinji's floor and wondered how he'd gotten roped into this. Not that he objected to visiting Shinji since it increased the chances he'd get a glimpse of a scantily-clad Misato. But delivering schoolwork to someone who would most likely be sick and in a hurry to get rid of guests was not his idea of a fun time.

He glanced at his companion. Somehow Touji had managed to get him to come along after Hikari had shoved the stack of papers into his hands and given him the delivery mission. _'Not like he put up much of a fight. I suppose it beats cleaning duty though.'_

As the two boys exited the elevator, Touji noticed someone getting out of the elevator next to theirs. "Hey, it's the Class Rep. Whatcha doing here?"

Hikari sniffed. "I'm delivering paperwork to Miss Soryu. I thought you two stooges were supposed to be doing the same for Ikari."

"That's what we're doing." Kensuke didn't know why Hikari was always on Touji's case, but figured he owed it to the other boy to help out whenever he could.

The three students walked in uneasy silence towards their respective destinations, which turned out to be the same apartment. Confused looks were exchanged, addresses were double-checked, and three fingers pressed the doorbell at the same time to announce their presence.

"Yes, coming." Spoke two voices in perfect unison. Kensuke exchanged a puzzled glance with Touji at that.

The puzzled looks changed to shock when the door opened. There stood Shinji and the Red Devil, dressed in matching workout clothes and wearing headsets. "What the hell, man! Matching outfits? Don't you think you're taking this too far?" Kensuke couldn't believe this! What kind of coercion was that Soryu girl using on him?

"Well, Miss Misato said that Japanese start by dressing the part, so she made us…" And they were *still* talking in stereo. It was downright unsettling! Kensuke actually felt relieved when Hikari interrupted them.

"How could you? It's disgusting!" Hikari couldn't believe it. She *knew* Asuka was interested in Shinji from their chat last week, but cohabiting so soon after they first met? And why were they dressing alike?

"Wait, you've got it all wrong." Even their head-shaking was coordinated. This did nothing to calm the trio.

"Two wrongs don't make a right, you know!" Hikari was about to go into a tirade when a new voice intruded.

"Ah, welcome everybody." Heads turned to see Misato approach with Rei silently following two footsteps behind her.

"Ah, Misato-san, would you mind explaining this to us?" Touji decided to figure out what was going on before he started praising Misato's beauty. Besides, it didn't feel quite right doing that with the Class Rep right behind him.

Ten minutes later, three teens and an adult were laughing over the misunderstanding while a fourth teen and a genetically engineered penguin stared blankly at the final two teens as they continued their training.

"So that's what this is all about? You'd think they coulda told us that to start out with." Touji munched contentedly on some snack cakes after listening to Misato's explanation.

Hikari looked up from where she was hugging Pen-Pen. "So, how's the coordination coming along?"

Misato grimaced. "Well, actually…" She was interrupted by a harsh buzzing sound and a pair of earphones being tossed across the room.

"You act like you're surprised! Did you actually think about how hard this would be for us? It's not like we've had the chance to train together before this." Asuka felt humiliated. Bad enough that the headsets compelled them to think alike, but now she had an audience watching her fail!

"So, you're giving up then?" Misato had a sly expression on her face.

"I didn't say that. But you're asking us to conduct intensive training on a tight schedule. You could be a little more understanding!" Damn! Didn't the Captain understand that Shinji's constant failures were damaging his self-confidence? She needed a wingman that wouldn't freeze up with self-doubt.

Misato turned her head slightly. "Rei, why don't you give it a try?"

The First Child responded with a simple "yes ma'am," and walked over to the practice mats.

'_Oh I get it. Shame me into working harder, Misato? Not likely. If sitting out on one mission is the price I need to pay to get someone I can trust by my side, I'll pay it.'_ Asuka's thoughts were interrupted by Shinji's comments, however.

"Take my place, Rei. Y-you've both had training and I haven't." Asuka narrowed her eyes. Clearly the damage had been done and now she'd have to build him up even more. Tossing her hair back she looked at the First Child. "Alright then, let's see what you've got."

Rei nodded and took her place on the mat. As the music started once again, Asuka focused on the timing, hoping she could prove that the First was no better at this than the Third was. If nothing else, it would do the boy some good to see the blue-haired Pilot get taken down a peg, right? However, while the pair went through the sequence, the redhead could tell something was off.

'_Weird. Even when Ikari and I did this the first time I could feel him on the other mat, reacting to me and the music. Heck that's been our biggest problem so far, not reacting in time. But this…it's like I'm the only one here, like I'm alone.'_

A tone sounded the end of the session, and Asuka glanced at the score. A full ten points higher than she and the Third had gotten. Still, she felt uncomfortable. Not because the First had done better than the Third, it was the lack of presence.

"_I wonder. What was she doing differently from Ikari? Only one way to find out.'_ Before Misato could suggest that the girls partner up, Asuka looked at Shinji and said. "Actually Misato, I'm curious to see how the Third does with Wondergirl over there. After all, we want the best matchup for the mission, right?"

Misato blinked, obviously trying to figure out what Asuka's reason was. Shinji simply shrugged and walked over to the mat.

"R-ready, Rei?" The blue-haired girl nodded, and the two Pilots began the sequence as Asuka watched carefully.

As the music began it certainly seemed that Rei was better suited to pair up with Shinji than Asuka was. The teens were hitting the same markers in near-perfect unison. And that's when the redhead figured it out.

'_She's not reacting to the music or anticipating our moves! She's just…mimicking us! Her head's tilted just enough so she can watch Ikari or me move and then she does the same thing. Her hand is hitting the mat a fraction of a second after Ikari's, every time!'_

Now that she knew Rei's secret, Asuka spent the rest of the match watching Ikari, trying to figure out why they kept screwing up when paired. If she had the choice, she'd much rather go into combat with the boy at her side than the undemonstrative First.

'_Control. That's what the problem is. I'm reacting so much faster to the music than he is. I have to remember this isn't a race, it's more like a…like music! Yes! We're like two different instruments but still playing the same tune.'_

Confident she knew how to make this work, Asuka waited for the test to end. She even correctly predicted the final score…the exact same score she and Rei had gotten. She smiled and turned towards Misato.

"Before you make up your mind, Captain, would you object if the Third and I tried one more time?"

"What's the matter, Red? Afraid the Shin-man likes Rei more than he likes you?" Touji grinned at his comment, missing the glare that Hikari sent his way.

Ignoring the jock, Asuka kept her eyes the person whose decision mattered. "Well, Misato?"

The older woman shrugged, "if Shinji's up for it, okay. But unless there's serious improvement, Rei is picking her partner and we're going from there."

"That's fine. So, ready to try it again Third?" Asuka gave him a challenging gaze, hoping he still had enough pride to accept.

The boy nodded and took his place on the mat. Before she did the same, however, Asuka walked up to the machine and began to fiddle with the controls.

"Asuka, what are you doing? You're supposed to memorize a sequence."

"I'm proving something, Misato. If we're learning to fight in synch, it shouldn't matter what we listen to, right? Besides, I know this music. Let's change the beat."

Once more the music began to play. Once more Asuka could feel Shinji's presence on the other mat. Unlike her previous attempts, this time she took her cue from Shinji and used the music to keep time with him.

'_Yes, there it goes. I can already feel the difference. We're not stumbling trying to keep time with the other anymore. It's more fluid now, more comfortable. I don't have to concentrate so hard this time.'_

Asuka surrendered herself to the music, moving with the precision of a metronome until the buzzer rang. Wiping sweat from her brow, she checked the score. _'Fifty-two, that's a good twenty points higher than last time, and certainly better than Wondergirl got!'_

Flashing a triumphant grin at the spectators, Asuka chuckled. "Well Misato, is that good enough?"

Misato grinned back. "No, but you're getting there. We've got three more days for the two of you to get a perfect score, so back to practice!" Turning to the First Child, Misato continued. "Okay Rei, it doesn't look like we're going to need you for this one after all. Thank you for coming by." In response the blue-haired girl simply nodded once and left.

The next three days passed quickly. When Asuka and Shinji weren't training, Misato had them doing everything together, from brushing their teeth, to eating, to watching the same shows (where Shinji allowed Asuka complete control), even so far as sleeping in the same room, with Misato laying between them. Much to Asuka's annoyance, the older woman still snored.

Finally, one day before the deadline they managed perfect scores twice in a row. As a reward Misato let them have the rest of the day off – cautioning the two that the operation would commence early the next morning. Freed from the need to constantly be together and doing the same activities, both teens retired to their own rooms. Asuka continued her unpacking while listening to Shinji play his cello through the thin walls.

When it was time to to sleep, Asuka noticed that Misato hadn't returned. Taking advantage of that, she grabbed her bedclothes and headed to her own room. Glancing over at Shinji, she smiled. "Tonight, this flimsy door is going to be the Walls of Jericho. No offense, Third, but I prefer my privacy when I sleep."

Despite her proclamation, sleep did not come easily for the young girl. The futons used in Tokyo-3 were markedly less comfortable than the beds she was used to and it took longer than Asuka wished before she could finally slip into slumber.

What she found there, however…

_It's always the same: I'm playing with Momma. It's nice to be able to play with her `cause she's always so busy. We're playing house and we need another dolly. Momma has my favorite one with the red strings for hair and blue button eyes. I go over to get one of my other dollys from the toy box, but when I turn back around, Momma's gone! I run and I run and I look everywhere, but Momma's not there! I find Poppa, but he has a suitcase packed. "Poppa, where's Momma?" I shuffle my feet as he looks off in the distance, it's like he doesn't really see me. "She left, Asuka. She doesn't want to play house with you anymore." I start crying and Poppa sneers at me. "I don't want to be near a little child that cries all the time." I only blink, but in that second, Poppa is gone too. I'm alone. I run, looking for someone, anyone, but I'm only a little girl, and adults can leave me whenever they want. I yell out for someone to stay with me, but nobody answers. Nobody ever does._

Shinji Ikari had a problem; a pretty, redheaded sleepwalker problem to be precise. He'd been listening to his SDAT player when Asuka's bedroom door slowly opened. He closed his eyes to pretend he hadn't noticed so was startled when she shuffled over to his bed and collapsed down on it next to him.

'_She looks so…innocent like this, so vulnerable without the strength she shows when she's awake. I'm lucky she wants to be my friend. I don't feel so afraid anymore.'_

His musing were interrupted when tears began to run from Asuka's closed eyes. Worried, he hesitantly reached out a hand only to snap it back when she began to whimper and beg.

"No, please. I'll be good. I'll be a good girl. Don't leave. Please don't leave me alone. I don't wanna be alone."

He couldn't take it. Gently he leaned over and quietly whispered into her ear. "You are not alone, Asuka."

_It's different all of a sudden! I hear a voice! It's strong, nice, comforting. Someone is with me! I'm not alone anymore! I don't see the owner of the voice, but its okay now. He won't leave me._

Shinji watched in relief as the young girl calmed down, the tears ceasing to flow and her whimpering dying off. The teen arranged the sheets on the bed to better cover Asuka, and took a pillow and blanket to use on the floor.

This was the sight that greeted Misato when she arrived to transport the Pilots to the hanger. With a grin, she bent over and shook Asuka's shoulder. "Wakey, wakey. It's time to get up and kill some Angels."

Asuka bolted into a sitting position, alarmed and disoriented. _'Wait, what? This…this isn't my room! Did the Third…?'_ A quick glance showed her that the boy was curled up near the balcony exit, putting plenty of space between the two of them. _'No. Scheisse, I must have been sleepwalking again. I haven't done that in years. And Ikari…he moved to the floor instead of waking me. I'm definitely going to need to work with Hikari to make sure you get a good girl.'_

Neither teenager mentioned the events of the night before as they climbed into their Entry Plugs. Misato had already told them that the Angel had recombined and was heading for Tokyo-3.

"Okay you two. As soon as the music starts, I want you to deploy your AT fields and stick to the plan. We won't fail this time." Misato said confidently.

Both teens nodded. "Roger." Asuka glanced at the display showing Unit 01's Plug. "Okay, we hit it hard and fast right from the start. Don't let up on it. Ready?" Shinji nodded in response.

As the Angel entered the engagement zone, Misato gave the orders to detach the umbilicals and launch the Evas. Rocketing to the surface in the elevators, the two teens could hear the music start to play.

Flung into the air, both Evas drew, extended and threw their progressive spears in one fluid motion. Israfel batted one aside, but the other split the Angel down the middle again. As Units 01 and 02 landed, Israfel's two component selves emerged and the fight began in earnest.

The battle continued precisely as planned for exactly forty-two seconds, and then everything went to Hell. As the Evangelions went for uppercuts against their foes, the two Israfelim flipped backwards out of harm's way. Misato watched in horror at what she expected to quickly become another defeat.

Asuka swallowed a curse as her target avoided her punch. The timing of the plan had already committed her to a roundhouse kick that *should* have slammed the Angel into its twin. Now she was vulner…there, her partner was also spinning, his hand reaching out for her. Grabbing onto it, she leaped as he swung her around.

'_Perfectly positioned to slam my foot into that Angel's face, he'll release me and I'll fly over the Angel. Then I'll grab and throw the second Angel while he body slams the first one into it!'_

It happened just as she pictured it. The two Evangelions working as one slammed both halves of Israfel back together. The massive dust cloud thrown up by the clashing titans obscured the view for the NERV staff, but nothing could hide the titanic explosion that heralded the Angel's destruction. As the smoke cleared another crater was revealed, this one with two Evangelions lying inside it in a tangled heap.

Over the radio, Misato heard a bemused Asuka ask her fellow Pilot. "Ikari, is there a good reason your Eva is on top of mine?" The boy's sheepish apology caused chuckles amongst the relieved bridge crew.

Another victory for humanity.


	4. Learning Experiences

**AN: Nope, not dead, just had a bad case of writer's block. On with the story! And I still own nothing.**

"The next few weeks were pretty normal, actually. Well, what passed for normal for us at that point. Which is to say, not normal at all."

– Dr. Ikari, Recollections of the Angel War

* * *

Two teenagers sat staring at each other across a table. Finally Rei broke the silence of the past fifteen minutes. "I do not know why you feel it necessary to limit Pilot Ikari to one female friend Pilot Soryu, but if that is the case then I wish to be his girlfriend."

Asuka blinked. Was it actually possible that she didn't know what this was about? "Look Wondergirl, I think you might have the wrong idea. See, there's a difference between having a girl who's a friend, and having a girlfriend. If you want to be his friend, that's fine." _'Not that I think you understand the concept of 'friend' either, but any girlfriend of Shinji's is going to have to take your relationship with him into account anyway.'_

Rei cocked her head. "I am a girl and I am Pilot Ikari's friend. Does this not make me a girlfriend?"

Asuka stifled a groan. "No. See, a girlfriend is someone who is romantically interested in the boy in question. Not just a friend. I'm one of Ikari's friends too, but I'm not his girlfriend." _'Granted, I'd be the best option for him, but I've got Kaji so he's going to have to settle for second best.'_

Rei blinked. "Oh." Suddenly rising from the table, she turned to go. "Then this interview is no longer important."

Asuka buried her head in her arms. _'Gott, how did I talk myself into this?'_

* * *

Upon reflection, Asuka decided it started with the celebratory dinner Misato had declared after defeating Israfel. Shinji's panicked expression on hearing that announcement convinced her that Misato's culinary skills had not in fact improved.

"C'mon Misato, why don't we go out to eat instead? I'd like some real western food instead of more ramen." Asuka desperately tried to project an aura of snobbery instead of terror at the thought of eating the atrocities the older woman called 'food'.

Misato shook her head. "No can do. Any place that I can afford won't serve me beer with you two present. And it's not a celebratory dinner without beer!"

"Okay then. I'll cook. Asuka, is there anything you'd like instead of western food? I-I'm afraid I don't have much experience with those dishes." Shinji looked at her apologetically, like he was afraid she'd blame him for not knowing her favorite foods ahead of time.

"Aw don't worry, Third. As long as it's better than that takeout swill we've been subsisting on for the past week, I'll be fine." She didn't want to burden him with unreasonable expectations, after all.

As it turned out, she shouldn't have worried about unreasonable expectations when it came to Shinji Ikari and cooking. Asuka honestly hadn't thought it was possible for an ordinary meal to taste like it had been prepared by a gourmet chef. After finishing a truly delicious dinner, the redhead eyed the chore sheet Misato had set up and came to a decision.

"Hey Shinji, I'll take your laundry days if you'll take my cooking days. You're much better in the kitchen than I am, and I'm sure you don't enjoy washing everybody else's clothes." Then again, he seemed so eager to please. Maybe he did enjoy it?

He smiled as he collected the dishes to clean them. "Sure thing Asuka, thanks."

The next morning Asuka was pleased to discover that Shinji had gone so far as to prepare a lunch for her in addition to himself. _'And I didn't ask him to do it. He obviously saw how much I enjoyed dinner, so is he doing this just because I complimented him or did he notice how much I dislike the food at school?'_

The question hung in the back of her mind but didn't really bother her until she found herself defending her meal from another girl at lunchtime. Chihiro was formerly the most popular girl in school, and had not taken Asuka's arrival with much grace. Not that the fiery pilot blamed her, in all honesty.

Asuka dove into her meal with gusto while sitting in a group with Hikari, Chihiro, and several other girls. Hikari eyed her curiously. "I didn't think you liked the school's food that much, Asuka."

The red haired girl shook her head. "I don't. This is some of Shinji's cooking." She was slightly taken aback by the reactions of the girls she was sitting next to.

Chihiro's gaze snapped to the box Asuka was holding. "Shinji made that?" She reached over with her chopsticks to grab a bite to taste.

The painful slap of Asuka's own chopsticks on her hand made her rethink that idea, as the redhead glowered at her. "Shinji made this for me! Eat your own food!"

All but two of the girls in the group reacted the same way, believing that Asuka was competition for the affections of the young Ikari. Hikari on the other hand was inwardly pleased that her observations had been correct, and that Asuka was no threat to her secret desire for Touji.

As for the Asuka, she was shocked at her own vehemence. _'What was that? I just acted like a spoiled child there. Why did I do that? Sure, Shinji made it for me but it's just food. So why don't I want to share? I'm not a child. I'm not! But…no, I won't share this. Shinji made it for me.'_

As preoccupied with that line of thinking as she was, Asuka missed the chance to talk further with Hikari about the other girls' reactions during lunch until class had ended for the day.

"So Hikari, what's with the way the others reacted to Shinji making lunch for me? I mean, it's just lunch, right?" Asuka had not been blind to the sudden cooling of the other girl's interactions with her.

Hikari was nonplussed. _'She actually has to ask? Wait. I forgot. She's from Germany and they have different customs over there. This could be bad.'_ "Well Asuka, in Japan when a boy prepares a meal for a girl, it's usually a sign that the two of them are a couple."

Asuka stumbled but quickly recovered. "What? Oh, no Hikari, you've got it all wrong. Shinji and I are just friends and apartment-mates. It's just easier for one of us to do the cooking and one of us to do the laundry. And Shinji cooks so much better than I do. Besides, neither one of us wants to stomach Misato's cooking. That's it. There's nothing deeper going on." _'At least I hope not. I'd better clear this up with Shinji tonight. The last thing I want to do is lead him on and hurt his feelings since my heart belongs to Kaji-san.'_

"Look Hikari, can you let the other girls know that there's nothing going on with me and Shinji? And try to find time for me to examine them and see if they'd pass the NERV background checks that any girlfriend of Ikari's would need to undergo?" Asuka tried to hide her fidgeting as the other girl considered things.

"Sure thing Asuka but," Hikari smiled, "are you certain there's nothing going on? I mean Shinji does seem to talk to you more than any other girl, and you certainly make an effort to mock all those love confessions boys keep slipping into your locker."

Asuka's only answer was a glare as she headed for home to make sure Shinji understood things…

Upon returning home, however, Asuka hesitated. While she didn't think that Shinji meant anything more than just a friendly gesture, bluntly declaring that there could be nothing between them might drive his low self-esteem into the ground.

'_Have to be careful about this. Don't just go in with the direct approach. Need to be gentle and subtle.'_ Asuka pursed her lips and approached Shinji as he was washing the dishes.

"Hey Shinji? I just wanted to say thanks for the lunch earlier today. I appreciate not having to spend my money on the pathetic excuse for food the cafeteria serves." _'There. That should get the message across that I don't want anything more than friendship.'_

"Oh, it's no problem Asuka. I'm just glad you enjoyed it. If you want me to keep making lunches for both of us I can." Shinji shrugged, pleased that his roommate appreciated his cooking ability.

She nodded to him. "Thanks Shinji. You're a good friend." _'Yeah, I was right. He's too timid to make the first move in a relationship. That's something to keep in mind when I pick out a girlfriend for him.'_ She pretended not to notice the way his face lit up or the way his shoulders straightened at being called a 'good friend'.

Asuka and Hikari spent the rest of the week attempting to convince the other girls that no, Shinji was not off the market. These attempts were hindered by both Asuka's marked reluctance to discuss the young man's romantic status where he might hear her and by the fact that she continued to jealously guard the lunches Shinji kept making for her.

The next Monday saw a somewhat bedraggled-looking Touji come up to Asuka and request a private conversation before school started.

"Look, I'll get right to da point. Are you'n Ikari a couple?" Touji stood there diffidently while Asuka gaped open-mouthed at the brazen impertinence of the question.

"Not that it's any of your concern, stooge, but no. Shinji and I are just friends and teammates. Why are you asking? It's not like you ever had a chance in hell of me even considering you." She glared at the jock, mentally daring him to take offense so she'd have an excuse to pound him.

"I'm asking, Devil, because I've been getting inta fights the last four days trying ta keep some of the dumber upperclassmen from beating on th' Shin-man for being your boyfriend. Not that you're able ta have one." She had to give the jock credit for two things, at least. He was loyal to the Third, and he wouldn't back down from a fight.

"So now that you know, what's your plan? Stand back and let those other idiots try to beat Shinji up?" Oh, they were welcome to _try_ beating her wingmate up. That would be all the excuse she needed to punish them for daring to assume they had any chance with her.

"Nah. If he was dumb enough ta be yer boyfriend I woulda stood back and let him handle some of 'em, like any man should. Since he ain't with you, I'm just gonna keep making sure they don't bug him." Touji shrugged indifferently. "Hey look, can you do me a favor and not tell th' Class Rep about this? If she knows I'm getting inta fights on purpose…" he trailed off.

'_Well that's certainly more mature than I expected. I might almost respect him, if the idiot hadn't groped me.'_ Asuka nodded. "I'll keep your secret, stooge. Just keep doing your part till this insanity gets sorted out."

Touji nodded. "He's my friend, an' he's protecting everyone from dem monsters. He don't need to deal with this crap."

"What, you mean like you punching him on his first day? Yeah, I heard about that, stooge." Asuka narrowed her eyes. "He let you off far too lightly."

The boy shook his head. "Nah, I mean that after that second monster, th'one where me and Kensuke were in there with him, Shinji ran away for a few days."

Asuka couldn't believe her ears. Ran away? Only a coward would run away and the Third was certainly not a coward. "You'd better explain that, jock. What did you two morons do to him?"

"Well, uh, I kinda yelled at him during the fight when Misato told him to pull back and he didn't. But I apologized after it. I mean he was right and everything." He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed at admitting his fear.

"Wait. Misato ordered him to retreat and he disobeyed her?" That wasn't the action of a coward. In fact it seemed aggressive for the meek boy she knew.

"Yeah, she seemed really mad afterwards too. But since she lets the Shin-man live with her, I guess it's all cool." Touji looked around. "Ok, so we're good? I'll keep getting Ikari's back, and you'll run interference with Hikari for me?"

Asuka waved distractedly. "Yeah sure, go on." _'Shinji. Meek, helpful, eager to please Shinji disobeying a direct order to retreat. Well, so would I in that situation. After observing the combat footage, it's clear that if he had pulled back, he would have needlessly exposed himself to the energy whips again. Misato's an experienced soldier. So why did Shinji see that and she didn't? Well, different perspectives probably. I mean she was down in Central Dogma after all. And the jock said she was angry. Well naturally she'd be angry at the two stooges for endangering Ikari. But…yeah, she'd be angry at him too. Misato never did like it when I outright refused her.'_

Asuka barely even pretended to pay attention during class as she continued to muse over what would make Shinji desert his duty. _'I've got to make sure it's something that won't happen again. I can't afford to have a wingman who cuts and runs. So why did he do it? Not fear of the Angels. He'd already killed two of them, and refused to run away from one of them even when ordered to. Was he trying to go back to someone? No, if that was the case then he'd have been relieved instead of frightened when he thought I was taking his place.'_

She blinked as something occurred to her. _'Wait. He *was* frightened. He was worried about being replaced, and asking Misato if he'd done something wrong. Dummkopf! How did I not see that before? That bitterness about his father finally having a use for him, that eagerness to please, the lack of complaining and his reaction when Misato had the First train with us. He's afraid of rejection. That would explain why he doesn't talk to anyone at school and why he doesn't notice all those idiot girls eying him. Gott, I got lucky when we talked about those lunches.'_

But how did his fear of rejection mesh with his running away? It was clear to her that Shinji was desperate to be allowed to stay in Tokyo-3. He'd probably put up with all kinds of humiliations if he felt like he belonged.

Asuka continued to chew on this mystery throughout the day, barely acknowledging Hikari or the other girls as they talked. _'Why did he try to leave? It's obvious that Misato cares for him, in her own drunken and slovenly way. So why would he run away from someone who cared for him?'_

The answer came to her as she remembered what Touji had said. _'Misato was angry at him for disobeying. She's a soldier and Shinji had only been here what, a few weeks? She wouldn't know how desperate he is for a place to belong. She'd have treated him like me.'_ Asuka snorted at the thought. _'And that would be the worst thing she could have done. Probably told him she needed Pilots who obeyed orders, not arrogant show-off know-it-alls.'_ The redhead chuckled as she imagined Shinji in her place during one of Misato's infrequent rants during her time in Germany.

Her chuckling faded as she pictured his reaction. _'He's new, the only kids he knows are Wondergirl, who has the personality of a…turnip, and the two stooges, who had beaten him up just a few hours ago. His father clearly doesn't want a son and now the woman who gave him a place to stay is telling him she doesn't need him anymore. He didn't run away, he thought he wasn't wanted.'_

That realization gnawed at the back of her mind as the young woman surreptitiously eyed Misato and Shinji over the screen of her laptop that evening. Over the past week it had become clear that Misato still enjoyed teasing just as much as she did back in Germany, only with an extra edge given Shinji's gender. _'But she doesn't realize what she's doing. Razzing is fine with me or any normally adjusted person, but it's just going to drive Shinji further away.'_

Ignoring the teasing captain and embarrassed pilot, Asuka returned her attention to her laptop as it finally divulged the information she'd been looking for all week. It had been rather frustrating trying to find out who had given Shinji his cello without actually asking the boy. She didn't want him knowing she'd been snooping around in his belongings.

'_Even if it was true'_, the redhead thought dourly.

The frustrating thing was that although every Stradivarius instrument was supposed to be tracked from owner to owner, there was no record of one ever coming into the hands of a certain Shinji Ikari. That meant she'd had to track the specific cello all the way from when it had first been identified in the database. It also meant she'd had to sneak into the Third Child's room one day while he was in the shower to write down the inscription on the back.

'_He'd better appreciate the effort I'm going through to help him. Of course, from what I've seen, he's more likely to just stammer, apologize, and thank me. Boy definitely needs to grow a spine.'_ Asuka traced the ownership history of Shinji's cello forwards from when it had first started being tracked. _'Hmm, it was acquired by a Yui Ikari in 1989. Well, that fits with the nameplate on the case. She's probably Shinji's aunt or grandmother. So where is she now?'_

A quick internet query turned up….nothing. The search engine returned only the record of the cello transaction she'd found earlier. The young girl frowned in annoyance. _'Even with the disruption caused by Second Impact, that doesn't make sense. There should be *some* record somewhere. Then again, maybe it's part of NERV security.'_ Asuka ran a search on Gendo Ikari and to her surprise found several news reports and even a wikipedia page.

She read through the amazingly bland entry and was left with more questions than she'd started with. _'What does that mean: "no living relatives"? He's got a son after all. Of course, Shinji's a Pilot. NERV probably wants to conceal him. Still,'_ the redhead noticed something, _'wait. That's weird. The commander's parents are listed as a Mr. and Mrs. Rokobungi. So why is he Gendo *Ikari* now?'_

Shinji's embarrassed shriek and Misato's cackling laughter tore the young girl away from her laptop in time to see the young boy rush past her into his room. Deciding to ask Kaji about this little mystery later, Asuka confronted her so-called guardian.

"What did you say to him, Misato?" She glared at the older woman, dressed in a loose-fitting tank top and shorts and leaning back in a chair.

"Wanting to take notes, Asuka?" Misato grinned, mentally tallying another point on her ''Torment Shinji' column. "If you must know," she continued after taking an annoyingly loud sip from her beer, "I was telling him to man up about a problem of his and offered to help him do so."

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "And I bet you were leaning over the table towards him, weren't you?" Misato's continued smirk confirmed that suspicion. "If you're trying to build up his confidence, you're doing it the wrong way. Teasing him is just going to drive him into a shell, Captain."

Misato chuckled. "And I suppose you think you're the expert on all things Shinji? Well, I suppose it's only natural that you feel all protective over your boyfriend."

"What are you talking about? Trying to foist me off on him so you can have Kaji all to yourself?" Asuka was outraged. This was underhanded even for Katsuragi!

"First, I don't want Kaji." Asuka wasn't sure who Misato was trying to convince, herself or the young redhead. "Second, you deserve better than Kaji." Ridiculous, there wasn't anyone better than Kaji in Asuka's informed opinion. "And third, you can't deny you've taken a shine to the boy since you arrived, Asuka-chan."

Asuka bristled at the older woman's tone. "Shinji is my teammate and we've killed two Angels together. He's been nothing but polite to me since I arrived, which is more than I can say for those children you've stuck me with at school. Not to mention Wondergirl! Why wouldn't I want to have him as my friend?"

Misato raised her hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine. He's a friend. I won't say another word. Nope, my lips are sealed. I will never again imply that your nurturing instincts have been awakened by our Shinji." She finished her declaration with a wide grin and another drink from her beer.

"Argh! You're impossible, Misato!" Asuka threw up her hands and stormed off to her room. _'Hmm. Better check in with Shinji and make sure he knows that Misato was only teasing him.'_

Shinji was lying down on his bed, his face still red from what Misato had offered him a few minutes ago. _'All I said was that some of the girls at school were talking about the upcoming dance. I was just asking for advice, not…that.'_ Still, the young man couldn't help but feel some interest in Misato's offer to "teach him how to make a woman happy". _'I mean, she had to just be teasing me about it. She couldn't really be serious. Could she?'_

His musings were interrupted by a short sharp rapping on his door. It had to be Asuka, since Misato would have just pulled the door open. "Come in." He liked the fiery young woman, even if he thought the rumors about the two of them being a couple were absurd. Asuka was in love with Mr. Kaji, and too good for him even if she wasn't.

"Hey Shinji," Asuka stood just inside the doorway. "Look, I just wanted to tell you. I asked Misato about what she'd said to you, and you should just ignore it. She didn't mean it; she was just trying to rile you up. Okay?"

'_Of course she didn't mean it. Who'd ever be interested in me like that? I'm just stupid Shinji, Asuka probably only puts up with me because I'm easier to work with than Rei is.'_ "Y-yeah, that's what I thought. Thanks, Asuka."

"No problem, Third. We Pilots have to stick together, right?" She grinned at him before closing the door and heading to her own room to sleep.

* * *

The next afternoon saw the first of Asuka's interviews. Sitting across from her in the deserted classroom was none other than Chihiro Kurita. Her interest was inevitable, in Asuka's opinion. After all, whoever was Shinji's girlfriend would have a large amount of social status, and Ms. Kurita obviously wanted to retain and expand hers however she could.

"So," she began. "Explain to me why you would be a good girlfriend for Shinji."

Chihiro bristled for just a second before replying. "Well, since you aren't claiming him," her expression clearly indicated she thought Asuka was being foolish with that attitude, "then it only makes sense that he and the second most popular girl in school are an item. It is, after all, what is expected."

"So, you'd be a good match because it's expected?" Asuka stressed the last word. "What makes you think Shinji even likes you, much less would have romantic feelings for you?" _'Conceited little twit. If she can't come up with something about herself that Shinji would find attractive quick, I'm shoving her out the door.'_

The other girl fluffed her shoulder-length hair back and responded. "Well why wouldn't he? After all, I'm attractive and popular. All the boys are interested in me, except that jock Suzahara."

"You actually consider him to be that shallow? Tell me, has Shinji ever actually shown any interest in you before?" Asuka was rapidly coming to the conclusion that this….child was not a potential girlfriend.

"He's just like every other 14 year-old male in school; of course he's interested in me! ...and every other pretty girl in this school, including Ayanami! Not that that little wind-up doll has any idea how to be in a relationship." Chihiro tossed her hair back dismissively at the mere possibility of Shinji actually dating Rei.

Asuka's hands curled into fists and she ground out her reply from behind clenched teeth. "Get. Out. This interview is over. I don't ever want to hear you call her that again."

Chihiro blinked. "Oh come on, Asuka. You can't possibly be standing up for that freak. I mean, look at how she reacted when you tried to talk to her that first day. I just thank God that we have two sane Pilots to defend everyone, because I don't trust Ayanami to be able to defend a ramen stand!"

Asuka stood, shoving her chair back, her hands quivering at her sides. "Rei Ayanami is a fully trained Evangelion Pilot and is certainly better suited for her duties than you will ever be. I may not be her friend, but Shinji certainly is." Refusing to vent her rage, the redhead strode over to the door and threw it open. "And you just ruined any chance you might ever have had of being his boyfriend." With that last parting shot, she marched out of the room, leaving a gaping Chihiro behind.

* * *

Asuka was dismayed by the results of her interviews. With the understandable exception of Rei, all the girls who were interested fell into two groups. The vain types seeking to improve their social image, like Chihiro (although thankfully none were as bad as she was), and the girls who thought Shinji needed a so-called "perfect Japanese wife" – submissive, meek, quiet, someone to trail behind him and do errands while he saved the world.

'_Schiest! What is it with these stupid girls? The social parasites are bad enough but the others…what Shinji needs is someone confident, someone to stand beside him and challenge him to do better, to make him believe in himself. Not a helpless wallflower. Gott, I bet that even if I locked him and that Kozuri girl in a room together, they'd both just sit and blush.'_

Asuka's humorous musing on how Shinji and Raiko Kozuri would ever find the nerve to talk to each other was interrupted by the door buzzer.

"Hai, hai, keep your shirt on!" Since Misato had taken Shinji down to headquarters for a medical checkup Asuka had been enjoying her solitude, so of course naturally someone had to come spoil it.

"Yeah, what do you – KAJI!" Asuka pounced on the slovenly-dressed man, grabbing him in a hug. "Where have you been? I haven't heard from you since we fought that stupid Angel a second time! Come on in, Misato took Shinji for a checkup so we're all alone together, isn't that grand?"

Annoyingly, the star of all her fantasies only chuckled. "Sorry kiddo, I'm just here because I was able to get ahold of the combat footage from your last fight, and I know how you like to review those." He reached inside one of the pockets of the jacket he had slung over his shoulder and pulled out a disc. "Here you go."

Torn between gratitude for the footage and frustration at his unwillingness to come inside and watch it with her, Asuka snatched the disc from his hand. "Oh fine then. But you're going to need to take me shopping this weekend to make up for ignoring me all this time." Asuka turned to let Kaji go, but stopped before shrugging and turning back to him. "Hey Kaji, how much do you know about Shinji's family?"

Ryoji blinked. "What do you want to learn about the Commander for?"

Asuka shook her head. "No, someone else. Do you know who Yui Ikari is?" The hiss of air being sucked through Kaji's closed mouth told her that this was a sensitive, maybe even dangerous question, although she couldn't see why.

Kaji worded his reply carefully. "Yui was Shinji's mother, Asuka. She died when he was very young. As far as I know, his only connection with her now is that he visits her grave every year. Why?"

Asuka paled. _'Oh Gott, that's his mother's cello. No wonder he takes care of it! Still, at least he knows what happened to her, and even if his father is an uncaring bastard, the two of them can see each other.'_ Composing herself she replied "oh, I was just wondering who gave Shinji his cello. It had her name on the case. Why is it so hard to find out anything about her though? I mean even the Commander has a wiki page."

Kaji shook he head. "That's a question you're better off not asking. In fact, do us both a favor and forget that you ever asked about Mrs. Ikari. If it help you take your mind off things, I'll take you shopping all day on Saturday, okay?"

Asuka nodded gleefully and ran to watch the combat footage as Kaji left the apartment complex thinking to himself. _'Definitely need to get her mind on a different track. Commander Ikari doesn't want people sniffing around his dead wife. The question is, why? Why would he erase all traces of her existence? What's he hiding? This seems like another secret that could be worth uncovering.'_ Humming a cheerful tune, the spy set out for NERV headquarters.

Asuka meanwhile, was replaying the combat footage from both engagements with Israfel over and over again, fast forwarding through parts of the sequence, and pausing it in other places.

'_Okay, I screwed up in the first engagement by not making sure I was hitting the core but we still might have had to separate and then recombine it anyway.'_ She watched as Unit 01 smoothly swapped out the pallet rifle for its prog knife._ 'Hmm, Shinji's got good coordination. He didn't even break stride doing that. That bodes well for his hand to hand training. In fact, if we'd been able to train together before the fight, I'd bet we could have beaten the Angel the first time.'_

Watching the footage for the second engagement, Asuka found herself hearing the music in her head. _'Like some kind of demented mechanical ballet. Ah well, at least we were moving in harmony…wait, what was that?'_ She stopped the recording and began to play it back in slow motion again. _'Weird. Misato drilled it into us that if we deviated from the sequence of attacks, we'd be toast but this is a major deviation. Why don't I remember panicking?'_

The redhead thought back to that hectic sixty seconds of combat, trying to see if she could remember anything out of place. _'No, there was no doubt, no hesitation. Shinji and I were in total sync with each other the entire time. But that last twenty seconds was definitely improvised! Were we that much in tune with each other? Guess so. I hope we can keep that up for future engagements.'_

Asuka watched the recording play out, curious as to how both Evas had ended up tangled on the ground. It might give her something gentle to tease Shinji with. That half-formed plan faded as she watched the screen.

*Unit 02 staggered as it grabbed and threw the Angel, going to one knee from the exertion. Meanwhile, Unit 01 had slammed the other Angel forwards, jumping over their now combined forms at it shoved a prog knife into the core. Landing between the Angel and Unit 02, the purple Eva glanced downwards before bringing up an AT shield as Israfel exploded.*

Asuka played that final scene back repeatedly. _'But, but…I don't remember feeling in danger. I knew I was safe! And Ikari, his reaction there was too fast for him to have thought that through. It had to be instinctive! He put himself in danger, took most of the explosion to protect me. And he did it without taking the time to analyze it! I know we're friends but still…'_

Asuka ejected the disc and went to bed, pondering Shinji's actions, and trying to decide where on Earth she could find someone worthy of being his girlfriend.


	5. Lifeline

"We had access to hyper-advanced combat robots, the most powerful explosives known to man, and the supercomputers known as the MAGI. So naturally we destroyed Sandalphon with a high school physics lesson."

– Dr. Ikari, Recollections of the Angel War

Asuka's weekend shopping trip started out just as she'd planned. Kaji had arrived right on time and took her out for what she hoped would be a wonderful day that would end with them sharing their first kiss.

And truth be told, the first half of her trip was just as she'd imagined it. Kaji had indulged her choice of stores and the time she spent trying on outfits. He'd even bought her a cell phone charm of Unit 02 that was being sold at a NERV kiosk.

But the trip started to nosedive in Asuka's opinion, when she went shopping for swimwear. Kaji was decidedly unenthusiastic at the idea of accompanying her into the teen bikini section and attempted to excuse himself.

"Err Asuka, if you don't mind I'm going to check out this store's selection of watches." The older man began edging away from the young woman.

"Oh relax Kaji, it's not like I'm asking you to join me in the changing room… yet." Asuka giggled as she held up a white-and-red striped two piece. "What do you think of this?"

Kaji frowned. "I think it's too skimpy for someone your age. Girls your age should wear something more demure."

Asuka fumed inwardly. _'He's still trying to treat me like a little girl! Why won't he wake up to the fact that we're meant to be together? Maybe I should try engaging him in adult conversation instead of trying to flirt.'_

Purchasing the swimsuit, the redhead turned to her escort. "C'mon Kaji, let's get something to eat."

The two of them each grabbed a bento box and sat down at a nearby park. Asuka picked at her meal, unfavorably comparing it to the lunches Shinji made for her.

Kaji smiled as he took a bite of his own meal. "So," he asked, "why so eager to pick out a new swimsuit anyway? Going to show off for one of the boys at school?"

Asuka shook her head. "Nope. There's a class trip to Okinawa coming up and I want to go scuba diving in the reclaimed area. Speaking of that, would you like to chaperone the trip? Please? I promise it's not because I want to see you in a swimsuit." _'Well, not the only reason.'_

The older man laughed. "Okay, I'll bite. Why do you require the pleasure of my company?"

The young redhead sighed. "It's…Shinji. Well, not so much him as it is those idiot little girls that think they're good enough for him. Most of them only want him as a status symbol and the others are entirely too meek and spineless to do him any good. I won't be able to be around him the entire time and I want someone else to help shoo those twits away."

"So, none of them are good enough for our young Mr. Ikari? Well, I suppose there's no way they could be, compared to the Great Asuka Langley Soryu."

Asuka's face flushed red. "Kaji, I'm trying to help him. If I was interested in him, which I'm not! I'd have already sewn him up. It's not like he could resist me." She brushed her hands through her hair coquettishly to emphasize the point.

He chuckled. "No, I suppose not. Still, I'm afraid I'll have to pass on the trip. NERV isn't going to just let me take a day off to supervise a bunch of kids."

* * *

Those words replayed themselves in Asuka's mind as she listened in stunned disappointment to Misato's announcement. After what had turned out to be an unsatisfying end to her shopping expedition, Asuka had returned to the apartment, where the Captain had told her two charges that they would not be going on the school trip.

"What do you mean, we have to stay behind? Why can't we go relax and enjoy ourselves on a beach? After all the work we've been doing for NERV, I'd think both Shinji and I deserve a little holiday!"

Asuka looked at her male apartment-mate. "And I can't believe you're just sitting there and taking this so meekly! Why aren't you standing up for yourself?"

Shinji placidly returned her gaze. "Actually, I kinda expected this. I mean, I can't see NERV letting the best pilot just up and leave the city and they haven't seen how well Rei works with you in the field yet, so that keeps me here too."

Asuka smiled at the young boy. _'That is a pretty mature outlook. It seems that he's accepted being my wingman. Can't say that I'm too surprised at how quickly he submitted though, not after what I've learned.'_

"Shinji's right," Misato shook her head and gave a wan smile. "NERV needs all three of you to remain on alert in case of another Angel attack. We can't predict their arrival. I know it sucks, but if you want to swim, there's always the officer's swimming pool."

The redhead slumped back in her chair, arms crossed. "That's another thing! Why are we stuck on the defensive all the time? Waiting for the Angels to show up just causes more damage and disruption to Tokyo-3. It'd be easier for everyone if we hunted them down and wiped them out!"

The older woman sighed. "I agree, it would be a lot easier if we could go on the offensive. Unfortunately not even the Magi can predict when or where an Angel will appear. I promise that if we get a chance to attack them, I'll make sure we take it. In the mean time…" Misato held up a pair of progress reports. "You two can spend more time studying. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed in your grades."

Asuka snorted. "Yeah, like my grade point average for my second pass through high school matters."

Misato smirked. "It matters if you want to avoid being grounded, young lady. If nothing else, you could always help Shinji with some of his schoolwork."

* * *

'_Well, I have to admit; at least the pool is pretty nice. Not even close to a dip in the ocean followed by sunning myself on the beach, but not as bad as I'd feared.'_ A splash caused Asuka to turn her head and she watched the First Child begin to do laps in the NERV pool. _'How about that? Wondergirl knows how to have fun after all. It's nice to see her enjoying herself.'_

As she turned her attention towards Shinji, she noted with some satisfaction that Rei might be a competent swimmer, but she was nowhere near her own level of skill.

The Third Child was seated at a small table away from the pool, brow furrowed as he studied something on his laptop. Upon reflection Asuka decided that not going on the field trip to Okinawa was actually a good thing for Shinji. He'd confessed to her after the plane left that he couldn't swim, and sitting on the beach the entire time would have been boring.

'_Not to mention much harder for me to keep those little girls from tempting him with their skimpy bikinis and asking him to apply sun tan lotion.'_ Asuka shook her head. That kind of thinking wasn't helping her fight Angels, get Kaji to admit his love for her, or help Shinji with his self-confidence.

Approaching the young man, she passed Pen-Pen, who was currently floating on his back. Misato had insisted they take the quirky bird with them, and neither Shinji nor Asuka felt it worth arguing over.

"Whatcha working on, Third?" She leaned over the other teenager's shoulder to get a look at the screen.

"Huh? Oh, uh, j-just my physics homework Asuka." Shinji frowned. "You probably think this is baby stuff."

Asuka shook her head as she furrowed her brow. "Nah, my major was in Software Engineering with a minor in Psychology." She slowly read Shinji's work, laboriously translating it in her head.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate kanji? Looks like chicken scratches to me."

Shinji chuckled. "I think you may have mentioned it once or twice, yes." He glanced over at his teammate before realizing what Asuka had put at eye level for him as she bent over. Blushing, the young man turned his head back towards his laptop screen.

'_Oops, didn't mean to tease him like that.'_ Asuka straightened up, removing her chest from Shinji's eye level. "Well, your numbers look good. What has you stumped?"

The young man swallowed, grateful his friend didn't yell at him for his accidental perving. "Well, it's this thermal expansion issue. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it."

The redhead chuckled. "Well, do you want the simple explanation or the research scientist version?"

Shinji sighed. "Simple, if you please. I doubt I'm smart enough for the other version."

Asuka patted his head. "Aww don't worry about that. I bet you can understand it if you focus. Anyway, once you boil away the math and fancy word choices, thermal expansion means that the vast majority of things expand when they get hot and shrink as they get cold. For example, the metal part of the old SR-71's canopy would expand during flight due to the heat. If they weren't careful, it would shatter the glass and that'd be it for the pilot."

Shinji concentrated for a moment. "You mean like how rubber seals tend to crack in cold weather? The cold forces them to shrink, but since they have to stay attached at both ends they break in the middle."

Asuka nodded. "Yep, same principle at work. Think you've got it now?"

Shinji smiled. "Yes, thank you Asuka. That made a lot more sense than what the book was trying to explain."

"Any time, Third. Well, any time that I'm not with Kaji." Asuka grinned as she headed over to the diving board. As she swam laps, the redhead noticed Shinji casting the occasional glance at her. _'Well, that's okay. At least someone I respect admires my swimsuit, even if Kaji doesn't.'_

* * *

Later that afternoon, Asuka found herself wishing she was back in the pool. She and her fellow Pilots were standing across a briefing table from Dr. Akagi and her assistant as the blonde described their find.

The redhead looked at the image displayed on the table. "That looks…like some kind of giant malformed fetus."

Dr. Akagi nodded. "Correct. We believe it is an embryonic stage similar to a chrysalis. The purpose of this operation is to capture this Angel as intact as possible."

Shinji blinked. "And if we can't, Doctor?"

It was her assistant who responded. "Then obviously we will need to destroy it, but that shouldn't be an issue."

Asuka shrugged. Either way it was going to be more action and glory for her, but still… "Dr. Akagi, if the Angel is inside an active volcano, how can we get to it? Our Evas weren't made to operate in an environment with that much heat and pressure."

The doctor's lips quirked in what could almost be called a smile. "We have a set of D-type equipment that will allow an Evangelion to operate with no risk of damage in the lava, as well as a modified heat-resistant plug suit for the pilot. However, due to production issues, the equipment will not fit either the Test or Prototype Units."

The redhead grinned, "too bad, First. Looks like you'll never catch up to Shinji and me at this rate."

Rei showed no signs of being bothered as she asked. "What will be my duties during this operation, ma'am?"

"Rei, you and Unit 00 will remain at headquarters on standby. Shinji," Dr. Akagi looked over at him. "You and Unit 01 will be on-site to act as backup in case something goes wrong."

The redhead mentally snorted at that, careful to not let the young boy see her disdain. _'Me? Need help capturing an Angel that's still in its egg? As if. Still, it'll help his confidence.'_

Once inside the dressing room, Asuka took a minute to examine her so-called 'special suit'. "So what's so special about this thing? It doesn't look any different from my normal plugsuit."

Dr. Akagi responded without taking her eyes from the notes she was perusing. "Touch the button on your right wrist."

'_Show, not tell, eh Doctor? All right then.'_ Asuka shrugged and pressed the indicated button. Instantly the entire suit ballooned outwards, catching her by surprise.

"Vas ist los!" The confused redhead lapsed back into her native German as she struggled to remain balanced. Doctor Akagi's chuckle recaptured her attention.

"The suit has a middle layer composed of memory foam insulation. That should help keep you cool during the lava bath without impairing your performance."

"Without impairing my performance? Are you serious? I look like…like a latex-covered sumo wrestler!" Asuka snarled. "Fine, let's just get this over and done with. The fewer people who see me like this, the better."

She stomped out of the changing room only to stop in horror as she gazed at Unit 02. Her sleek, elegant Evangelion had been 'dressed' in what looked like an ancient deep-sea diving suit.

"Mein Gott en himmel! Vas…what have you done to my baby?" Asuka glared with hate-filled eyes at Dr. Akagi.

The doctor replied in a bored tone. "Unit 02 has been equipped with D-type armor to help it weather the heat and pressure inside the volcano. The suit itself is able to better withstand intense pressure, and the coolant circulating inside the suit will help regulate the temperature."

"That's it? That's all you have to say for yourself? You make me wear this embarrassing fat suit, you force my Eva into that hideous getup, and all you can say is 'this will help'?" Asuka lost all control of her temper as she continued her rant. The mortification of being seen by Shinji, Misato, and Gott forbid, Kaji while wearing the 'special suit' was compounded by what she saw as a deliberate insult to Unit 02. Not to mention the fact that the modified plugsuit…chafed her in an uncomfortable place.

As her rant continued, it quickly began to meander between German, Japanese, and even English as she poured all her frustration about Kaji, the school trip, repeating high school and how the command staff had been treating her and Shinji into what she privately admitted to herself was an overblown temper tantrum.

"If you're that adamantly against it," the Doctor interjected during a pause in the ranting, "we can always have Rei pilot Unit 02."

Asuka stared at Dr. Akagi, dumbstruck. Before she could reply, however, she heard a voice that at any other time would have been most welcome.

"Awww, and I was so looking forward to watching Asuka perform." Kaji's drawling voice made the redhead cringe internally.

'_Schiest! Not only do I lose my temper and act like a little baby, but Kaji has to see me do it? How can I expect him to accept I'm an adult if he keeps witnessing scenes like this? No, don't cry, you'll only make it worse. This has to be Misato's doing, making me look bad in front of Kaji. Well, we'll just see about that.'_

Asuka straightened up as much as she could in the awkward suit. "Alright then, let's get this over with." She looked up at her Evangelion. _'I'm sorry baby, but we're going to have to put up with it this once.'_

* * *

Asuka wiggled around in her entry plug. Dr. Akagi may have made every effort to protect her from the intense heat of the volcano, but the rotund suit made it difficult to sit comfortably in her Eva's chair.

Unit 02 was suspended in its drop harness while a laser bore drilled an entry hole in the lava below. As she waited, Asuka heard Shinji's voice over the comlink. "Hey, what are those?"

The redhead craned her neck to see what Shinji had spotted when she heard Dr. Akagi's voice. "That's the UN Air Force. They're on standby alert."

Asuka blinked. "So are they here to help us then?" Not that she needed the help, but more observers for her inevitable victory couldn't hurt.

Ritsuko's voice came back loud and clear. "They're here to clean up if we fail."

Asuka frowned. She never failed, but just in case…"What do you mean?"

The doctor's dry voice robbed her statement of the emotional impact it should have had. "They're prepared to drop N2 charges to destroy the Angel, the volcano, and us."

Asuka could barely hold back her outrage as she heard Shinji's voice. "Who would give that kind of order?"

Ritsuko ended the conversation with just two words. "Commander Ikari."

Looking to change the subject, Asuka decided to ask about her future husband. "Hey, where's Kaji-san?"

Misato's scowling face popped up on her view screen. "That jerk isn't anywhere near here. Not that he'd have any reason to be here in the first place!"

'_He ditched me... again? How could he? After convincing me to wear this disgusting suit the least he could do is keep his promise!_ _Grr... why can't he be reliable, like Shinji? Sure, he was ordered to be here, but it's not like he can do much without D-Type equipment. But at least he's here, unlike... no, stop. I don't have time to think about that now; I have to focus on the mission.'_

Composing herself, Asuka signaled she was ready to begin her descent. Approaching the pool of lava, she couldn't resist the impulse to joke with her teammate. "Hey Shinji, think I should do a cannonball?"

His answering laugh helped to steady her nerves. "I don't think Dr. Akagi would be impressed, Asuka."

Asuka shivered despite the wave of heat that washed over her as Unit 02 entered the lava. "Yeah, probably true. I'm in the lava now, continuing descent. Internal temperature is warm, but within tolerances. Misato, I can't even see the cage in this crap, switching viewer modes."

The redhead thumbed her way through several different scanner settings before finding one she liked. "Okay, I can see now…barely. Descent still continuing."

All was quiet for the next few minutes. Only the constant whirr of the cooling fans and Lt. Ibuki's monotone recitation of the depths reached broke the silence. Asuka kept herself from fidgeting by going over the cage deployment steps in her head.

"Maximum safe depth reached, continuing dive." The change in Maya's chant snapped the redhead's attention back to her monitors, making sure everything was still working properly.

Because of that, she was keenly aware of when Unit 02 had reached the target depth.

"Misato, I'm at the right depth, but there's no sign of the egg or anything that looks remotely like an Angel." _'It better not have run off on me. This was going to be my second Angel kill.'_

Dr. Akagi's voice came over the line. "The lava currents at that depth are faster than we predicted. I'll have to recalculate the new target depth to account for their speed."

Asuka tapped her fingers on the controls until the Evangelion shuddered and then continued its descent. Maya's constant reporting of the depth now had a tinge of concern in it, a concern that the redhead was grateful for even as she dismissed it.

She was halfway to the new projected target depth when sounds of alarm came over the radio.

Quickly double-checking all her warning sensors, she asked what was wrong.

"The second coolant pipe has developed a crack, Asuka. There's no reduction in coolant flow, however." Dr. Akagi's statement might as well have been delivered by a robot for all the emotion it showed.

Buoyed by the doctor's report, Asuka simply nodded her confirmation as the dive continued. Eventually Maya changed her depth reading to say: "Unit 02 is now over the maximum depth, let alone the safe depth."

Misato's voice then came over the line. "Are you holding up okay in there, Asuka?"

'_Really, what do they expect me to say?'_ "Aside from sweating like a pig, I'm fine Misato. Let's hurry this up so I can go home and take a nice long shower."

A chuckle answered her. "Tell you what. Capture this Angel without any problems, and I'll take you to the hot springs for some relaxation."

Asuka grinned. "You've got a deal, Captain."

Unit 02 was halfway to the new projected depth when Asuka felt a shudder in the Eva's left leg and a warning light flared into life. "Schiest! Misato, I think I just lost my prog knife! Can you confirm?"

Misato nodded in the communication screen. "That's what we see as well, Asuka. It looks like the strap attachment failed." The line went quiet for a few minutes before the Captain continued. "Lieutenant Ibuki thinks we should abort the dive before anything else happens. I'm inclined to continue, what say you?"

Asuka smiled. "It's just a simple capture mission. I won't even need the knife, right? I say push on."

Misato nodded and cut the communication. Back in the command trailer, she smiled. "Attagirl."

After what seemed to Asuka to be far too long, the cables finally stopped lowering Unit 02 into the depths of the volcano. Peering around, the redhead spotted the egg-shaped mass.

"I see the egg, deploying cage framework now!" A flick of a switch triggered the unfolding of the bars carried in Unit 02's claws as the Evangelion drifted towards its target.

Dr. Akagi's face appeared on her viewscreen. "Be careful, Asuka. With the way the currents are flowing, we'll only have one chance for you to make the capture. After that, there'll simply be no way for the crane to get you back into position."

'_Thanks doctor. No pressure. Ah well, time to show just how skilled I am.'_

"Closer, closer, almost there…" Asuka softly chanted to herself as she lined up with her target. When the cage framework gently slid over the egg, she activated the electromagnetic systems, encasing the object in a field of energy.

Her banshee wail of triumph alerted the command staff that it was over. Misato's face popped up on the screen. "Good going, Asuka. The hard part is over, and now you just have to wait while we haul you back up."

The redhead relaxed back into her chair as the winch began hauling her Evangelion to the surface. As she waited, Shinji's face appeared on her screen. "You okay down there, Asuka? I was kinda worried."

'_I'd call him a wimp if so much of his combat history hadn't dealt with near-lethal surprises.'_

"Don't worry so much, Shinji. I've found that most of the time fear of something is actually worse than the danger it really presents."

She saw the boy slump backwards. "So everything's fine then?"

Asuka waved a hand. "Pfft. It was easy. The hard part was wearing this disgusting suit; it feels like I'm in a sauna! You looking forwards to the hot springs like I am, Third?"

As Shinji nodded his agreement, Ritsuko handed her coworker a cup of coffee. "I'm impressed, Misato. You certainly kept your cool better than anyone else here."

The buxom woman took a sip. "I'll be honest with you, Rits. I was terrified. Still am, in fact. I'm not going to relax until we get Asuka…" her words were interrupted and her coffee cup fell to the floor as an alarm blared.

Asuka stared in horror. Cracks began to appear all along the black ovoid, and the energy walls of the cage began to flicker. "Vas is…Misato?"

Crisp and decisive, the older woman's voice comes over the radio. "The Angel is hatching. We're aborting the capture attempt, Asuka. Get rid of the cage."

The redhead quickly released her cargo and began backing her Evangelion away. "How am I supposed to kill this thing, Misato? I lost my knife and this stupid suit you stuck Unit 02 into can't brawl!"

"Asuka, I'm throwing my knife down to you! Be sure to catch it!" Shinji's own voice was a welcome relief to the young woman as she watched the giant shrimp-like Angel maneuvering to attack her.

"It's making an attack run. I'm dumping ballast to maneuver!" Asuka issued a command to her Eva, and the weighted belt cinched around the great machine's waist released. As the Angel sped towards her, Asuka kicked with her legs, and Unit 02 popped up out of the path of its opponent.

"Crap, where'd it go?" Asuka desperately scanned the monitors, trying to spot her opponent. "This is just great. I'm alone, unarmed, can barely see past my arms in this gunk…and sweating like a big fat pig in this outfit! Misato, you owe me a week at the hot springs for this!"

She barely registered the nervous chuckle on the other end of the line as her questing eyes finally spotted the enemy. "Shinji, it's lining up for another attack, where's that knife at?"

Misato's voice responded. "Ten seconds, Asuka, be sure to catch it."

"C'mon…c'mon….there!" As quickly as she could manage in the dense magma, Asuka snatched the sinking weapon, activating it just in time to parry the Angel's attack. Sandalphon's left claw met the furiously vibrating blade and Asuka flinched as a harsh vibration made its way into the entry pod.

"Not so fast you…ack!" Taking Asuka by surprise, the Angel quickly wrapped the claws of its other arm around Unit 02's left leg. Looking up, the redhead gasped in fright as her enemy's mouth opened, revealing concentric circles of rotating razor-sharp teeth.

While the Angel's mouth latched onto the faceplate protecting Unit 02's head, its grip tightened on the Eva's leg, squeezing the armor suit protecting the great machine. Asuka was staring at the buzz saw of teeth filling her viewscreen when she heard an alarm. "Dammit, left leg armor is compromised!" She winced as the armor was torn away, exposing her Evangelion's leg.

"Nnn…this doesn't feel good."

Grunting with the effort, Asuka shoved the Angel's claw away and slammed her Eva's knife into the creature's hide, only to wince as once again intense vibrations rattled her bones from her blade skittering across the enemy's carapace. She snarled in anger. "Arrrgh, why won't you just die!"

Dr. Akagi spoke up from her position inside the monitoring van. "The Angel has developed to survive inside a high heat, high pressure environment! The progressive knife can't cut through that!"

'_That's encouraging, Doctor. So now what do I do? C'mon Third, show that improvisational genius of yours…'_ Asuka's thoughts were cut off as Shinji's voice came over the link.

"Asuka, thermal expansion! Just like the rubber seals!" Her eyes widened as Shinji's comment registered.

"Of course! Next time we go for dinner it's my treat, Third!" Asuka pulled back the knife and sliced open one of the coolant hoses. "Alright you eldritch abomination, eat THIS!" With that comment, the redhead pushed back the Angel and shoved the spewing hose into its mouth.

"Quick, transfer all coolant pressure to hose number three!" Asuka smiled grimly as cracks began to appear in her enemy's shell. She promptly attacked with the knife again, welcoming the vibrations as her blade began to penetrate.

Flailing desperately, Sandelphon made one last attack with its claws, shredding three of the remaining four connecting hoses before going limp and succumbing to the pressure of the lava surrounding both of them.

The redhead spent no time taking comfort in her victory, as warning lights were everywhere in the plug. "Misato, I've got a problem. External armor integrity is compromised and is beginning to fail." A shudder reinforced those words as the chest of her Eva's diving suit suffered a concave dent. "I…I don't think my Eva is going to make it." For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to say out loud what she really meant.

Garbled static was her only response as Asuka gazed upward at the last hose, now beginning to tear. An ancient Japanese death poem came to mind. "Had I not known I was dead already, I would have mourned the loss of my life." For some reason, it bothered her that she couldn't remember the author's name. As the last hose broke and her Eva began to sink, Asuka took a moment to hope Shinji wouldn't take her leaving him that badly.

'_I wonder if Momma worried about me when she left. I know Poppa didn't.'_ Her musing was abruptly halted as Unit 02 jerked to a stop. Looking upwards again, she saw the purple armor of Unit 01, the Eva hanging onto the cables and grasping the tattered remains of her support.

Asuka smiled softly. "Shinji, you idiot…thanks."

* * *

Asuka sighed in relief as the warm water of the hot springs soothed her aching leg. She turned to her guardian, wanting to ask about the stern lecture she had overheard Misato give the Third Child, when a boyish yelp and the squawking of a penguin reminded her that the young man in question would overhear them.

'_Yeah, this is a conversation that needs to be held in private. I'll find the time at the apartment.'_ Asuka nodded her head towards the wooden divide and asked "so why did you bring Pen-Pen? Don't you think you're spoiling him a bit much?"

Misato chuckled. "Wasn't me this time. Kaji sent him up here."

The redhead frowned. _'He can't be bothered to show up and watch when I risk my life, but he pampers that stupid bird of Misato's?'_

"Whatever," she grumbled as she reached for the shampoo bottle. A quick squeeze, however, showed that it was empty. _'Of course it is...'_

Looking back towards the wooden barrier, she raised her voice. "Hey Shinji, would you mind tossing over your shampoo bottle?"

"Sure thing, here it comes." A few seconds later the bottle in question came flying over the divider. Barely even looking, Asuka reached out her hand to catch it. _'Hunh. A blind toss and we executed it perfectly.'_

"Nice toss, Shinji, and thanks."

As she and Misato scrubbed themselves, the older woman caught Asuka starting at the mass of scar tissue over her sternum. "It's a legacy of Second Impact." explained Misato, in a rare moment of seriousness.

"Do you think about it often?" Asuka's question was more timid than normal. This was a rather personal issue, after all.

Misato shook her head. "It's in the past. Ancient history and I can't change it."

The redhead nodded. "Misato, you know about my past, right?"

The lavender-haired woman nodded. "Yep, I had to know since I was your guardian."

"So does that mean you know about Shinji's past?" Asuka was curious now.

Misato sighed. "Not as much as I'd like. I know his guardian was an old schoolteacher who didn't exactly care for him, but not the specifics."

Asuka turned her head and frowned slightly. _'And another answer just gives me more questions. If he was raised by an old man, what happened to his mother? Why is it so hard to learn about the boy who saved my life?'_

She pondered this question as she watched the sun slowly set on a humanity that would see another day, thanks to her. Asuka Soryu, the Second Child.

* * *

**AN: About Asuka figuring all these things out about Shinji, we have to remember that she's terrifyingly brilliant. She managed Eva combat training AND graduating from college by the time she was 14.**


End file.
